Like a Wolf (Falling to Pieces)
by Saga Byakuya
Summary: Harry Potter has lived his entire life in an orphanage, shunned by others. When Dumbledore pays Harry a visit telling about the Wizarding World, he is stunned beyond comprehension as he realizes the situation is almost a déja vu from 50 years ago with young Tom Riddle. He is frightened of what the future will bring to the Wizarding World. Dark!Harry, Slytherin!Harry, HP/LV
1. Meeting the Boy Who Lived

Hello, lovelies! It is time to finally re-upload this story as I have had enough time ro rewrite this first chapter completely and now I'm totally satisfied with it. I'd like to give .Xanda (author of the Rise of a Dark Lord, love that story, though haven't read that completely) a heads up because I realize this first chapter can resemble her story but I think it's really hard to write a story that is completely original with this kind of a theme. I know there are bunch of stories with similar storyline in some aspects and those stories are far too numeral to give credit to their authors individually - so I just give the credit for the orphanage arc to her and mention that this story contains several of my all-time-favourite Dark!Harry themes.

So, as I already mentioned, I have rewritten this first chapter and revised the second one and I hope that you guys like this story even with this new look. I have absolutely no memory of what I rambled in my original author's note - so I just hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. And I got a beta for this baby, these two chapters at least are beta'd by lovely Kamsu.

All of the characters and locations are the property of J.K. Rowling, there is no copyright infringement intended. I get no monetary profit with this story as this is made purely for entertainment purposes.

 _ **CHAPTER 1  
**_ _ **Meeting the Boy Who Lived**_

It seemed like any other day in Godric's Hollow as the whole village was getting ready to celebrate either Halloween or the celebration of the Old Ways, Samhain. In the Potter house, everything was like it had always been. Lily held her son, Harry, in her arms as she listened with a gentle smile playing on her lips how James told them both about his day at work while Lily made preparations for the meal. Lily shifted Harry to her shoulder in order to reach the kitchen supplies a bit better without having to hand him over to James who was still rambling about his job as an Auror and how many Dark wizards they had caught so far. Lily remembered the number of times she had complained about her husband's job, claiming it too dangerous for a father of a small child – but James was always very passionate about his job. Lily surely could understand what he felt for his job, as she was familiar with that kind of passion and she was currently unable to have a permanent job as their son was far too young to be left alone – or even in to the care of his godfather.

Her attention was snapped back at James when he suddenly fell silent, probably due to Lily's lack of attention and she snorted, amused, before handing Harry to his father. James took the boy, a bit hesitant, but said nothing as his eyes followed his wife as she went to a cupboard over the stove and searched for something. James smiled as Harry uttered a soft _'gah'_ before tugging his father's shirt and plopping its corner into his mouth, gently teething it. James glanced up as he heard a clear laughter and smiled as he saw Lily staring at their son and laughing at the way how he worried the hem of James' shirt.

"Would you watch after him for a while?" Lily asked. "I need to make dinner and it would help a lot if I didn't need to balance an overactive toddler simultaneously."

James smiled at his wife appraisingly and tickled their son, who giggled happily. Lily sighed before turning to continue her cooking, leaving James to try to cope with Harry, who certainly was a handful time to time. James just watched as she tried to cook as fast as she possibly could, so that he wouldn't need to struggle with Harry any longer than absolutely needed. James turned his affectionate smile to his son and gently took the hem of his shirt out of Harry's mouth.

"Leave it be," he murmured and smoothed the fabric. Harry gave a little sigh and James laughed. "Yes, that's right. Aren't you a good boy."

Harry giggled and James smiled before shifting him a bit in his lap, trying to find a position where they both would be the most comfortable. He still found it hard sometimes to have a child, even though Harry was already twelve months old. Sometimes it was just hard to grasp that he was indeed a father and that Harry was his son, _his_. James chuckled when Harry started to squirm, indicating that it was time to get off from his father's lap and preoccupy himself with something else. James just smiled as he put his son down but never allowed him to get out of his sight. Even though he used to come home tired and act like he was still the ignorant teenager he remembered being while in Hogwarts, he was a very good father, feeling responsible for their child and willing to protect him from everything. He would always have enough time to play with their son – even if he was tired from all day of work and catching Dark wizards.

A gentle smile played on James' face as he followed his son with his gaze, sometimes snorting at something the boy had done, amused by his antics and always ready to react if something went wrong. Periodically, his eyes wandered at his wife, who still hassled at the oven, trying to create something wonderful for dinner and she too was keeping an eye on their child. James smiled and turned once more to look at Harry. With a snort he moved to lift him back to his lap when Harry crawled closer to their kneazle, probably to pull her tail or to bully her in some other way.

"Harry," James murmured, "leave the poor creature alone. She has done nothing to deserve to be bullied like that."

Harry seemed to ignore his father's words completely and tried to squirm out of his hold but James just chuckled, "Nope, dear, don't bully the kneazle." He planted a loving kiss on his son's nose, causing the toddler to squirm even more and scrunch his nose in disdain. James loved the way in which Harry seemed to hate being kissed on the nose.

He was still smiling when Lily gave a deep sigh before clattering around the cupboards, trying to find a plate or bowl and finally bringing James a steaming plate full of delicious looking stew. James smiled at his wife, thanking her wordlessly and nodding when she once again took Harry so that James could eat a bit more easily. Lily balanced the child on one of her arms, grabbed an empty glass from the table and walked to the tap to fill it before bringing it to James.

"Thanks honey," James murmured before eating his fill while Lily tried to keep their son preoccupied and away from bullying their pet kneazle.

Their peace, however, didn't last for long as they could hear silent steps from outside and after a short while they could see a bright green light shining through the sides of their front door. Lily turned to face the door, warily, trying to keep Harry away from the straight line of fire as she was trying to decide whether she needed to get Harry to the nursery and leave James to deal with this new threat. After all, he was the one who dealt with threats and Dark wizards regularly due to his occupation. Lily cast one last glance at the door before hurrying to the nursery, wanting to have Harry as safe as possible as it was more than likely that the intruder was either the Dark Lord himself or one of his minions. As she climbed the stairs up to Harry's room, she prepared herself to fight once more. She might not have been an Auror like her husband – but she was a member of the Order of the Phoenix and as such she knew how to fight, though it was more than likely that this fight could be fatal and would be highly defensive on her side.

Lily put Harry gently into his crib and grabbed her wand before turning to face the door, preparing herself, though she hoped that James would manage to fend the intruder off – no matter how unlikely. She did not dare to even think about the option as it meant that she would have to acknowledge that if the intruder managed to get upstairs and to her and it would only happen if James was already dead. It was a scenario she had no will to meet – and so she waited, torn between choices, as she knew she could wait here with the knowledge that if the intruder managed to get upstairs it meant the worst or she could choose to go down, try to help James where the situation was the most dire.

Gripping her wand tightly she made her way towards the staircase but didn't manage to get far until James saw him and shook his head, tried to tell her to return to the nursery without needing to say a word. James met her eyes once, offered a reassuring smile even though they both knew that they were more than likely to die here, tonight, but it didn't make them stop fighting as they were willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to protect the life of their only son.

Lily gave only one look to the Dark Lord, as it indeed was the Dark Lord himself who had broken through their wards before fleeing into the nursery, locking the door behind her and positioning herself in front of the crib. She glanced at Harry over her shoulder, trying to shush him and soothe him so he wouldn't cry and alert the Dark Lord who most likely already knew where they were but had decided to get rid of James first as he was the threat now. She made sure her voice was always soft and gently, not to alert her son that something was wrong. If it would be only dependent of her, Harry would never know that something was terribly wrong today and would live his life happily. However, she knew she wouldn't be able to shelter her child forever, sooner or later he would need to step up and meet the world and all its threats. She could only hope that Harry would be ready by then.

When she heard the ruckus outside the nursery she felt the coldness of fear seep into her heart. She had absolutely no idea of how James was faring outside and she knew they both would need to face the Darkest wizard alive before they could call it a day – and it was highly likely that neither of them would actually be alive when the night was over. She mustered her courage and peeked outside the door and for a flimsiest of moments her gaze met James' and at that moment he shouted, "No, Lily, take Harry and run! It's him!"

Lily shivered. She had known that it was the Dark Lord they were fighting right now, but hearing it from James' lips made it so undeniably true it made her heart freeze. She pulled the door closed and cast every single locking charm she knew to ensure that the door would be at least a bit more secure, though it would not hold firm when Voldemort decided to blast it from its hinges. No spell that Lily had knowledge of would be able to hold against a wizard this Dark. She cast a worrying glance at her son who currently tried to stand up in his crib, using the wooden bars as his support. Lily smiled sadly, fear still tainting her heart as she walked closer to Harry's crib. She never loosened her grip of her wand as she wanted to be ready to defend him when the need would arise.

Her brave camaraderie wavered when she heard a soft thump from outside the door. She knew what that sound meant, she knew that James was dead, that he had been defeated in battle and murdered in cold blood – but there was nothing she could do. For a fleeting moment, she felt an urge to peek through the door – but she fought that urge, pushed it back into the depths of her heart, she didn't want to remember her husband dead, she wanted to maintain those lovely images she had of him while they were both still alive and well. Now that life had been taken from them and even if she was to survive this night it would never be the same. She would always be just a half from what she was – part of her soul stolen with her husband. She inhaled deeply and tightened her hold of her wand, this was to end now – and it wouldn't end well for her part, that much she knew as she would never step aside and let his son unprotected. Even if she was to be offered a chance to live by stepping aside, she would never take that chance.

The nursery door was blasted from its hinges and Lily held her wand levelled at the Dark Lord who crossed the threshold into the nursery. Her lips were pulled into a tight line and her green eyes blazed with purpose and barely contained fury. She had already lost her husband, she was not going to lose her son as well. She would rather fall fighting if it meant her child would be safe. However, as brave as she was, she could not fight down the mighty shiver she felt running down her spine as soon as she met the red gaze of the Dark Lord.

Those fiery red eyes looked at her with a sheer rage and disgust and Lily had to bite her lips in order not to whimper in fear those eyes ignited inside her. Instead, she just stood firmly in front of the crib of her son, trying to shelter Harry as long as she could.

"Step aside," the Dark Lord commanded, his voice the familiar shrill Lily could so easily remember. She tried to ignore the shivers it sent down her back. She did not budge. Not even when the Dark Lord levelled his wand at her.

"Step aside, you foolish girl."

Lily stood as still as a statue, her wand still trained at the Dark wizard, not willing to move a muscle, not willing to give the Dark Lord what he wished for, as it would have meant the death of her son even if it didn't mean her own death. She could easily see how annoyed the Dark wizard was becoming and she knew the moment of her death was slowly creeping forwards as she knew how much the Dark Lord hated headstrong people – especially when they stood against him.

"This is your last warning, girl. Step aside or I _will_ kill you as I kill your son," the Dark Lord growled as he pointed his wand even straighter at Lily, who still refused to budge. Instead, she stood tall, stubborn, her flaming hair shining in the dim light of the nursery and her green eyes alight in proud flames.

"I will never step aside, Voldemort!" Lily almost snarled. As if she would give up the life of her son to save hers. It would never work that way and she knew that even the Dark Lord knew it. She could see it in the way his face tightened in the deep shadows of his hood.

The Dark Lord didn't say anything, he just stepped closer and cast a effortless Killing Curse at Lily's prone and determined form, taking an immense pleasure from seeing her lifeless body fall to the floor and finally clearing his path to the crib where a now serious toddler tried to stand up. He enjoyed how the child's expression changed as he moved forwards, preparing to cast the curse again, this time to finish the business he had come here for. As soon as the blasted child was finally dead, there would be no one to stop his rise to the absolute power. An unpleasant smile spread to his lips as he met the eyes of the last Potter and finally trained his wand at him. Almost gently he murmured, "Avada kedavra!"

As the green light flashed into being the Dark Lord screamed as he could feel his very soul shredding and ripping from his body. This hadn't been something he had intended or anticipated, this was something new and as the Dark Lord's soul left his tattered body, he knew something had gone horribly wrong.

o

Later that same day, one could find Albus Dumbledore standing at the Privet Drive, smiling to a cat and sometimes glances at the darkening sky. The sight of an old wizard smiling and occasionally speaking to a tabby cat would have possibly been odd for anyone who happened to see them, but as it currently was, they were quite unnoticeable as they stood in the shadows, waiting.

"Hagrid should be here soon," Albus murmured and smiled as the cat at his side gave a snort before transforming into a stern-looking woman with her hair tied into a tight bun.

"Hagrid? You're trusting him into the hands of that man?" she questioned, not so happy about the idea that Albus had allowed Rubeus Hagrid to be the one to transport young Harry to this place, to be placed into the care of his relatives.

"Why, Minerva, I would trust my life into the hands of Hagrid. I'm certain that he will be able to get Harry here with no trouble." Albus glanced quickly at his pocket watch. "Although, he seems to be a tad bit late, I hope there weren't any trouble."

Minerva gave an exasperated sigh and shook her head, smiling as she looked around before her expression started to grow grim.

"I'm sure that Hagrid has a heart in the right place but surely you cannot deny that he tends to be a wee bit careless sometimes. I am certain there would have been better candidates to take Harry and get him here safely than Hagrid," she said, not quite convinced that the half-giant was the best option possible. Albus just smiled at her in the manner she was sure was meant to be soothing but it did nothing to remove her worries.

Minerva opened her mouth to say something else but was interrupted by a loud rumbling sound that seemed to fill the skies around them, causing them both to glance up, alarmed and not aware what the sound actually meant. The sound grew steadily closer and now Minerva could identify it as the sound of an engine, but she could see no headlight up or down the street, which meant that the sound must have come from the skies but it made little sense as she knew no motored vehicle that could actually fly. Before she however, could say a word they could both see the source of the rumbling noise as a huge motorbike fell out of the sky and landed, sliding for a moment before coming to a halt a few feet to their left. Minerva couldn't help but stare. Whatever she had expected, this was most certainly not it. She knew Hagrid's heritage and she had not expected to see a motorbike that could fit the man astride it.

"Where did you get the motorbike from?" Albus asked, quirking his eyebrow at the large man who just rubbed his beard before taking a small bundle from somewhere Minerva couldn't see. She could just hope that Hagrid hadn't carried young Harry here in his pocket. Who knew what kind of things the man kept in his pockets and it actually wasn't appropriate to carry a child in a _pocket_.

Hagrid lifted the goggles from his eyes and peered at Albus.

"Borrow'd it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," Hagrid murmured as he handed Harry over to Albus who took him gently and peeked inside the blankets. "Young Sirius Black said I could take his bike, said he didn't need it anyway."

Albus nodded and glanced at Hagrid over his half-moon spectacles.

"There were no problems, I presume?"

His eyes were twinkling madly as he smiled at the half-giant who was still staring at the bundle on Albus' arms. Minerva, however, wasn't looking happy, she was staring at Albus with an expression that told clearly that she didn't like at all that the Headmaster was leaving young Harry Potter with his relatives – and she made sure she told them why she didn't wish the child to be placed in the care of these muggles.

"Albus," she said crisply, "surely you cannot mean to place him with these muggles. I have spent the day watching them – and I have noticed they are the worst kind of muggles imaginable. They seem to hate everything abnormal with passion and I fear what might become of your Harry if he had to grow up in that kind of a place."

Albus gave a deep sigh as he turned around to face Minerva and gave her a smile that was meant to be reassuring, although it did nothing to soothe Minerva's worries for young Harry's wellbeing.

"I assure you, Minerva that this is for the best of him. It is his best option right now as he deserves to have a proper childhood away from our world and the duties his fame will surely place on his shoulders. Sure, there would be several Wizarding families that would love to have him and raise him as one of their own – but he need to grow up away from all that, he needs to have a place where he can be just like any of us, completely normal and carefree. It's his mother's family who can make sure he'll have a childhood he deserves to have. I'm sure you cannot deny his right to be a child."

Minerva shook her head, not completely assured and her worries had not lessened even in the slightest but she wasn't capable of denying that Albus did have a point. Harry did deserve a chance to be a child but she weren't sure this was the place where that chance could be taken. She was afraid that these muggles wouldn't be the safest choice for a family out there but she also knew that it would prove to be a difficult task to change the Headmaster's mind when he had already decided upon something. She could just hope that her fears were proven wrong and this loathsome family could indeed give Harry a proper upbringing.

"I cannot help but worry. I have watched this family, Albus, seen how they interact with each other and it's clear that they despise everything they don't understand. I cannot help but fear, that if Harry had to grow up in a place like this, the odds are that he'll end up abused because of his magic or he'll end up picking up their attitudes towards magic and grow up thinking magic is something to be despised of, something to hate. This family is not a correct one to someone like Harry, this is not a place for a magical child."

Minerva, however, could see that her pleading was useless. Albus didn't want to listen to her, he had made his decision and she could only hope that it wouldn't backfire in the worst way possible. Helplessly, she watched how Albus placed young Harry in his blankets on the doorstep of the number four and left a letter on top of him, probably explaining the situation to the Dursleys and telling them they needed to take care of Lily and James Potter's son.

Minerva could only hope that the first impressions she had of this family were proven wrong after a while and that professor Dumbledore would be correct after all. Otherwise, she was afraid of what they would face when Harry would eventually be introduced to their world. So, to avoid further disagreements Minerva decided to stay silent even though she knew she probably should have fought for Harry more.

It took Albus approximately ten years to even begin to understand the gravity of the mistake he had made that fateful night in November 1, 1981, when he left Harry Potter on the doorstep of his relatives.

o

Ten years later Albus Dumbledore stood once again on the doorstep of the number four Privet Drive, only this time he was peering into the rain and currently putting his Put-Outer back into his robe pocket. It was finally the time to re-introduce young Harry Potter to the Wizarding World as his eleventh birthday had already passed and it was time to hand him his Hogwarts' letter. Albus had prepared carefully for this moment when the Dark Lord had finally been defeated. He had placed young Harry into the care of his relatives and Albus knew for sure they wouldn't be the best family for the child. Growing up with his relatives would make Harry affection-deprived and make him eager to please, something Albus himself could quite easily mold into the perfect Saviour the Wizarding Britain so desperately needed. Albus knew that after being constantly despised, hated and told useless, Harry would be pleasantly oblivious about what was good for him and ignorant in a way to his own wellbeing. He would help Albus save others while constantly walking towards his own eventual death as a martyr. Of course, there were times Albus felt incredibly weary and hated that he had to do something like this to a child but at those moments, he just thought this was for the greater good. When he was beginning to think he had made an error, all he needed to do was to think he had done the right thing considering the public and that this was something that had to be done in order to rid the Wizarding World of the great shadow of Voldemort – and he would feel better once again. He was just doing what was needed, not that he particularly liked it but nevertheless, it just had to be done.

Albus lifted his hand and knocked the door, plastering his most pleasant smile on his face and his eyes twinkled madly once again. He was, however, in for a nasty surprise as soon as the door was opened and he met the suspicious eyes of young Dudley Dursley, though Albus wasn't quite sure of his name. He kept he smile on his face despite the cold feeling that had started to settle inside his gut. This just wasn't right! Something was very, very wrong in here and he had no idea what he could do to make it right again. But first, he needed information.

"Is your mother home, my boy?" he asked. "I would like to have a quick word with her."

This caused the blonde boy to shudder before he turned to yell at his mother inside the house. "Mum, there's somebody at the door!"

It was quite easy for Albus to hear rapid steps from inside of the house, coming closer to the door. He smiled. Maybe now he could have some answers and get this business call done and over with. He had other things to attend to and he couldn't spend the entire day trying to get to Harry.

"Well, who is it Dudders?" a woman's voice asked and then a slim, horse-faced woman stepped to the door and into Albus' line of sight. His smile just got wider.

"Mrs. Dursley, I presume?"

The woman, Mrs. Dursley, just stared at him before frowning. After a while, she nodded and gave Albus one good look from head to toe. Then her expression changed. It was a look of complete disgust and disdain that overtook her narrow face and she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You're one of _them_ , aren't you?" she asked, her hatred evident in the way how her voice was strained and how it clipped at the end. Albus just gave a deep sigh. This was going even worse now and he supposed that he could only do what could be done in order to save what little was left to be saved.

"I am professor Dumbledore and I'm here looking for young Harry. I presume he's inside?"

Now Mrs. Dursley actually glared at the older man, visibly annoyed. Before she answered to Albus, she turned to pat her son gently on the back and pushed him towards the staircase visible from Albus' spot at the door.

"Go, sweetheart, I got this. You go inside and Mummy will come to make you some supper soon enough. Isn't that good, Dudders?"

As soon as the boy had disappeared back into the house Mrs. Dursley turned to face Albus and crossed her arms across her chest. Somehow the look she was giving him made him to think that something had gone very terribly wrong, although Albus had no idea what it could be. He wasn't very sure what had happened as he had planned everything very carefully and there shouldn't have been any room left for errors – but apparently he had been wrong and now he would find it out in the worst way imaginable.

"The little freak hasn't lived with us for years. The very same day we found him on our doorstep, we took him to the police. I suppose they'd gotten rid of that little filth long time ago. We never bothered with him and I guess no one else did either."

Albus was beyond shocked. This wasn't expected, not at all. He hadn't meant this to happen as he had imagined that his explanation letter would be all that was needed to inform how crucial it was that Harry grew up with this family. He had thought he'd made it sure that there was no chance at all that Harry Potter would end up living somewhere completely different that where he was originally meant to. With his relatives Harry would have been happy – or maybe not so happy – and safe at the very least. Now, however, it seemed that his plans had been nowhere as good as he had believed them to be. These muggles had done something that shouldn't have been even possible when they had taken Harry to the muggle police. Albus also knew that there was no telling at all what _they_ had done to the Saviour of the Wizarding World. To say the least, Albus wasn't happy, not at all. He had absolutely no desire to start a wild hunt across the muggle London, trying to find one child that had gone missing. He would just need to figure something else out now. One of his plans had already been thrown out of the window and he had no desire whatsoever to let that happen to his other plans concerning Harry Potter.

Albus sighed. He knew he needed some time to think, to reconsider his plans for Harry – and he definitely needed to consult his colleagues if he wanted to figure out the best way to handle this new turn of events he could have never guessed. He had always been so certain that the Dursleys would give Harry the home he needed, even though it was likely that the home these muggles would have given Harry could have been an abusive one. It still was something that was needed if Albus wanted his plans to succeed as they were meant to.

In his shell-shocked state, he could hardly give Mrs. Dursley a polite nod before turning his back at her and walking down the street until he found a spot that was safe to Disapparate to Hogwarts. He really wanted to get away from here, he needed to think, he needed someone to talk to and more importantly, he needed to find Harry as soon as humanely possible before he could even think about making any new plans considering the future and decide the best way to correct the damage done by the Dursleys. He could just hope that the damage wasn't irreparable and he could still find a way to mold Harry into a proper pawn.

As soon as Albus made it to the peace of his office, he gave Fawkes a quick glance but the phoenix was still asleep. He sat behind his table, leaned into his hands and just spent a while, staring into nothing before shaking his head and grabbing a handful of floo powder. He had things to do and to do that, he needed to have all the Heads of the Houses in his office. He had absolutely no interest at all to start looking for Harry manually as it would be of little help and doing it magically would be so much easier.

Minerva was one of the first ones to enter his office and took a seat next to his desk, giving Albus a worried look. Filius, Severus and Pomona followed shortly after and gathered around the table.

"You called for us?" Severus murmured, looking at the Headmaster incredulously as he tried to figure out the reason for this late call.

"Yes, I've just gotten news that Harry has never lived a day with his Aunt and Uncle. I suppose he's living in an orphanage now – and it is essential that we find him as soon as possible."

It took a while for these news to sink in but as soon as that happened the office was filled with urgent yelling and hasty words. Albus just lifted his hands and looked straight at Severus.

"Severus, I want you to find Harry and go and arrange a meeting with him. When you're done I'll accompany you and we'll tell Harry the truth about his heritage. I would give this task somebody else but I fear that Harry might be in the need of your healing potions and therefore it would only be beneficial to have you find him."

Severus just nodded and rushed out of the office. Albus just watched how the dark man's robes billowed behind him before resting his head against the headrest of his chair. He could only hope there still was something they could repair and a way to manipulate Harry into doing his will before everything would end in Harry's death in a fight against Voldemort.

o

Even later that evening, one could find two wizards standing outside a sloppy building neither of them had ever seen before. Neither of them actually desired to enter the house, as it was looking even more desolate than they had feared and they didn't even want to think that this was a place where Harry Potter had to live. The paint was flaking off at some places of the walls and the metal gates had several spots of rust colouring them. Both of the wizards thought that this place was hardly fit to be a residence for children as it was the last place they could imagine someone would build a children's home. They also hated the mere idea that a Wizarding child would have to endure living in this place. Even Albus couldn't help but feel eager to get Harry to the school, as this was probably even worse than it would have been if the Dursleys would have kept the child. And even the sight of the children's home made Albus think fifty years back and hated to be reminded of the fiasco of Tom Riddle.

Albus shook himself out of his memories and sighed when they made to the front door and knocked. They almost held their breaths as they waited until they could hear silent footsteps from the inside – before the door creaked open. Immediately Albus plastered a wide smile on his face and scowled at Severus who just looked as stoic as he always looked. _Sometimes it would do for Severus to get rid of his masks_ , Albus wondered but said nothing as they entered the children's home after the woman who had opened the door.

"I guess yer here to take him?" the woman went straight to the point, clearly eager to get rid of the boy. Albus couldn't help but wonder why that was – but he supposed that they'll understand as soon as they'd finally meet Harry face to face.

"Well, not actually take him right away," Albus murmured. "We'll just speak to him for now and he'll come to us at the school as soon as the term begins. I suppose he'll want to stay at the school until the summer holiday as we don't allow students to live in the school outside terms."

The plump woman just shrugged and sighed, not really concerned. She glanced at the wizards over her shoulder and pointed towards the room at the far end of the corridor.

"Tha's his room. Ya can go there if ya want or if ye'd like to have a cuppa at the office then tha'll do as well."

Albus glanced at the direction she was pointing before giving Severus a look. Then he just smiled at the woman and nodded.

"I think we'll have a cuppa then. We have certain things to discuss with you anyway."

The woman said nothing, just shrugged and led the wizards into her office and shut the door after them. She them pointed them to take a seat and proceeded to pour all three of them a cup of tea. She handed them to her guests and gave them a look.

"Ye said ye wanted to talk 'bout him?"

Albus smiled.

"Yes, we do. As my colleague might have already explained to you, we are teachers in a boarding school young Harry's been enrolled into since his birth. As he turned eleven this year he is old enough to start studying there and we're here to explain certain practicalities to him and to prepare him to the upcoming term."

"I hardly see why's tha' a reason to talk with me," the woman said, smiling wearily. Albus just smiled lightly.

"We just want you to tell us about Harry. We don't know him like you do and we'd like to know him at least superficially as we'd like to know something about our students, before they come to school as it helps us to prepare the schedules to fit the needs of the children," Albus lied effortlessly. He pretty much couldn't tell this woman that he needed to have information about this boy in order to plan ahead the ways to manipulate the child and to mold him into a perfect pawn.

The woman still looked a bit suspicious though and Severus didn't actually help, smirking like that behind his cup of tea. She didn't say anything, though, just nodded before taking a good sip from her own cup.

"Ya'll take him still, no matter wha'?"

Severus had to fight a snort. Of course, they will take the bloody brat as Albus had already told her. Not that Severus was happy about it, considering who the child's father was, but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He just had to sit through it like they all had. And he had to admit that he, too, was a bit curious about this child.

"Yes, we'll take him," Albus assured her, his eyes once again twinkling madly. The woman just gave a deep sigh of relief.

"Well, I guess tha's at least better than havin' him here all the time."

Severus perked at that.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

The woman just gave him a look. She shook her head slightly, as if she tried to get rid of some thoughts that irritated him.

"Well, he's a righ' menace, for starters." She took another sip from her tea. "He looks like he's one of those sweet kids, pretty an' all. He's polite, overly so, always so calm and exactly like those fellas ye'd love to adopt."

Albus started to look confused. It was clear he didn't quite crasp what was the problem here and Severus couldn't help but agree. So far, everything sounded like Harry Potter was a dream kid, something that most families would just love – and it didn't please Severus in the slightest. Still, there was clearly something off about the child if the way that the woman reacted to him was of any indication.

"Explain," Albus said swiftly, ordering the woman to tell them the rest of her story.

"I wouldn't say there's something really ' _wrong_ ' about the lad but something doesn't add up. His appearance doesn't seem to fit his personality at all."

"From what you've told us so far it seems that Harry's an angel," Albus whispered gently. She just shook her head.

"He's as far from tha' as possible. He's an intelligent fella but other kids bully him a lot. We have never once caught him hurting them but they seem to fear him dearly. And we've noticed tha' whenever he'd been bullied the other kids tend to get hurt. It's like he hurts those who's hurt him or crossed him in some other ways. By far he's been with us for ten years and he's gotten each an' every one of us petrified."

Severus was flabbergasted.

"Petrified?"

"Not literally, oh god, no. But he's got the entire home terrified of him. Most of the lasses here won't even go near his room."

Albus as beginning to feel quite worried now. He couldn't help but be reminded of another visit to an orphanage fifty years back. Not every detail was the same between these two cases, but there were similarities as they both had a small boy terrifying the people and hurting those who had hurt them. Albus hoped that Harry wouldn't turn out to be just like Tom in other aspects as well – but the beginning didn't look good at all.

"Are there anything _odd_ about him? Like peculiar talents as such?" he questioned, eager to learn if this woman had witnessed any other oddities around Harry. He suspected that she would have. After all Harry was a wizard, and accidental magic tended to happen around untrained children especially in this age. He also wanted to know if Harry had shown any signs at all of possessing the Dark talent of Parseltongue.

The woman looked uneasy.

"Well, now tha' ye mention, yes. Everything seemed to be quite fine until he turned four. Things just started to happen around him, odd things, scary things. Tha's one reason everyone is terrified of him. Tha' was when the kids bullying him were startin' to get hurt. At first, it never was anything serious but then it gradually started to get worse. The kids would shatter their bones; one even had her humerus liquefied. No idea how tha' happened but it did. Then some of other kids would begin to come to us, telling that he'd made the little snakes in the garden attack them. It was just lucky that none of those snakes were venomous but that kinda sealed it. Everyone here is afraid of him. He seems to be okay and a sweet lad but that's just a front. I'm at loss with him; have absolutely no idea how to deal with him."

Albus sighed deeply. He knew his worst fears were slowly coming true. It appeared that young Harry did possess Parseltongue and even he had started to hurt people around him – yet another similarity between him and the Dark Lord. Now Albus understood it was essential to put all his plans on the move as soon as the child stepped on the Hogwarts perimeter.

"I think that's all we need to know. Now, if we could, we would like to see the boy."

The woman just shrugged and led them out of her office and down the corridor.

"Tha's his room. I'm not comin' in with ya, so you'll need to talk to him on your own."

Albus nodded. "That's quite alright. We just want to have a word with him and I guess we'll be leaving shortly."

The woman just nodded, gave them a quick glance and disappeared into his office, leaving the two wizards alone in the corridor. Neither of them were particularly happy about the idea of entering the room but they did have a job to do here so they had no choice. So Albus reached to open the door and they slipped in.

Neither of them had known what to expect when they finally saw Harry Potter. For a while they just stood by the door, staring at the small figure sitting beside the window, reading a book he held in his lap. Severus could easily see that this child had a posture that would make any pureblooded father proud as Harry's back was perfectly straight and he seemed to emit an air of an elegance and aristocracy around him. Severus had expected to find a boy with James' unruly mop of hair but what he saw in front of him was a child who had James' black hair but it was silky soft just like Lily's and reached down to his chin. The light from the street lamps outside the window lit his face and Severus could see that Harry was truly kind of angelic looking, certainly he had inherited Lily's eerie beauty which was only increased by the way how Harry's features seemed to scream ' _Black_ ' even though both Severus and Albus knew Harry was no Black.

Severus exhaled deeply as he realized _what_ made this child stand even more out in the gloomy room Harry had to call his own. Severus could practically feel the magic pulsating in the room and by glancing at Albus he could see that the older man felt it too. It was kind of unsettling to realize that this was truly a powerful child that seemed to have his magic under control as Severus couldn't feel the power in the room growing unsteady. He could also feel the darker edge in the magic around the boy that made him feel edgy. He knew that it shouldn't have been possible for a child aged eleven to have such a complete control over his magic, wandless, nevertheless, and for it to have such a dark feel. It made Severus shiver. It just felt wrong.

It was Albus, who was the first one to pull himself together and get over his shock, he conjured two chairs for them, gesturing for Severus to take a seat as Harry already had one. When Severus turned to look at Harry again he noticed that the boy was looking at them, his head slightly tilted. With a start Severus realized that this child had eyes the colour of the Killing Curse. He could also see how curiously Harry was looking at Albus' wand which still was in the older man's hand. Then Harry smiled at them, a blinding smile that seemed all innocent and childish and for a while Severus had an impending feel that Harry would quite possibly end up being sorted into his House – and he wasn't quite so happy about it. He just thought that there was too much going on with this child and he didn't want to get pulled right middle of it.

Severus was brought back into the now when Albus cleared his throat and said cheerily, "Harry, it's a pleasure to meet you again. My name is professor Dumbledore and this is professor Snape beside me."

After a quick round of nods Harry smiled. The smile seemed to change his looks completely; it made the boy even more good-looking as the shy smile suited the boy well.

"I am pleasured to meet you too, sirs," Harry murmured and Severus couldn't help but notice that Harry's voice seemed to have a musical note to it and that Albus was beginning to look quite worried next to him.

Albus had been growing more and more worried as their meeting with Harry progressed. It had been quite easy to see that the child held the same kind of charisma than Tom Riddle had when he still was sane. They both were extremely good-looking and both controlled their magic unnaturally well. There just were far too many similarities between them to Albus to ignore and he couldn't stop thinking why these two children growing up in children's home had turned out to be so similar. It pained him to admit that these endless similarities between young Tom Riddle and the eleven years old boy made him quite worried... and downright scared.

"Harry, we are here to tell you about the school you've been invited. It is a boarding school up north and it's meant for children like you who are quite different than others around them."

Severus focused on Harry as he wanted to see how the boy reacted.

The change was so drastic and so instantaneous it actually made Severus terrified – quite a feat to be true with Severus' past as a spy. All of the innocence previously visible in the child's face vanished and even the air around them became tangible and the magic gathered around them. Cold and calculating look entered Harry's eyes as he stared at two professors. Severus couldn't even find a word to describe the look on Harry's face as it was something so unnatural and unattractive he had never even considered naming it.

"Yes?" Harry breathed and Severus could hear a slight tremor at the child's voice, hinting that they got him. Harry was enthusiastic and interested. The stoic mask, however, was still on place on Harry's face and Severus shivered. All of this just was so unnatural it shouldn't even be possible.

"The school is called Hogwarts and professor Snape here is one of our teachers. This school is meant for children with magic."

Harry didn't seem too surprised by this piece of information, Severus could see.

"Magic, huh?" Harry smiled.

"Yes," Albus said, not averting his eyes from Harry's small form. Harry met Albus' eyes and his smile turned ugly.

Harry's eyes were half-lidded as he kept his eyes on them both. It was unsettling to have a child looking at you like you were just a filth under his boot and Severus didn't like it at all. He knew there were so much going on with Harry and he could bet that none of it were good. He just wanted to get out of here as soon as humanely possible and get as far from the child as he could. It seemed that Albus was, for once, sharing his sentiments as he stood up from his chair and handed a small envelope to Harry who took it eagerly.

"Here's your list of needed supplies for this year and your train ticket. You'll find all needed instructions inside as well as the supply list. We will see you again September 1 at the school." Albus gave Harry an odd look. "Do you need any help with getting your supplies? I'm sure professor Snape wouldn't mind to oblige."

"No," Harry smiled, "I'm quite fine, thank you."

Albus gave Harry a look over his half-moon spectacles but Harry kept his face impassive. Severus shuddered at the thought how this child had completely shut off as soon as he had got the information he needed from them. Now he was even more certain that this child would most likely end up into his House and he definitely wasn't happy about it. But the boy had acted like a perfect Slytherin all day long so he could just say it wouldn't be a surprise to get this boy. He just was eager to leave.

Albus seemed to, once again, share his thoughts as the old man gave a sigh and walked to the door.

"Very well, m'boy. All you need for your school year can be found here in London. You just need to go to Charing Cross Road and find an inn called the Leaky Cauldron. Should you need help, you'd only need to ask for Tom, the bartender, and he'll help you out. Tom will show you through to Diagon Alley where you can find all the magical shops needed."

Harry's face remained emotionless as he glanced up at the professors through his fringe.

"Don't I need money or something? I'm afraid I don't have any."

Albus just smiled, although Severus could see that the smile didn't quite reach the older man's eyes that had lost their ever-present twinkle. They were both still shocked by the revelation they had got about Harry and what they have learned today. It would certainly take a while to get over everything and sort things out again. Severus, especially, wasn't looking forward to that at all.

"Don't worry, my boy, Hogwarts has a fund for orphaned children. Although, you won't be needing it as your parents left everything they owned for you. All you need is to pay a visit to Gringotts and the goblins will sort things out for you."

Severus could've sworn that the look that rose to Harry's face was one of the most terrifying looks he had seen so far. He was certain that even the Dark Lord couldn't be quite as intimidating. He hated the greedy and enthusiastic expression in the young boy's eyes at the mention of his parents.

"You knew my parents?" Harry asked, his voice barely calm. This was the most emotional they had seen him get so far – and it terrified them. All they had needed to do was to mention the boy's parents and it seemed that the sweet but oddly scary child they have encountered so far was replaced by something completely different and something unknown. Harry's green eyes shone with glee and a sly smile ad crept onto his lips which didn't make him look better at all.

"Yes, we did. Although, that is a story for some other time as professor Snape and I really should be going now. Remember, we will meet again as soon as the school starts in September."

Harry didn't say a word when they left. When Severus glanced back at the boy over his shoulder he could see him sitting once again in his chair, holding the letter in his hand and a smirk on his lips. Severus shuddered and hurried to follow Albus downstairs and out of the building.

As soon as they reached a safer spot, they both Apparated back into Hogwarts. They had some things to tell to their colleagues – and Severus knew none of them would be all so pleased when they would eventually find out the truth about Harry Potter.

o

At his office Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk, his head on his arms and a shell-shocked staff gathered all around him. He had just finished telling them what exactly had happened at the children's home. None of them were too pleased by the fact that they seemed to have lost young Mr. Potter and there was pretty much nothing they could do to change the situation. They could hardly take the child from the place he had lived his life in, even if it wasn't the most suitable option to choose from. They had school regulations and even if it was Harry Potter, they couldn't just go and change the protocol. If they did, the School Governors would never accept it, not when they were led by Lucius Malfoy.

Minerva stood unhappily next to Severus who appeared to be trying to blend into his surroundings, not quite comfortable being stared in a manner that left him feeling quite small and young again. He'd rather be down in the dungeons, trying to figure out a new experimental potion he had been working with most of the summer as it would be needed during the next term. Minerva, however, lowered her hand from her mouth and looked at Albus quite desperately.

"You have to tell me this isn't true, Albus!" she exclaimed, not wanting to believe what she had just heard – but all the same knowing there was no reason why Albus and Severus would have lied to her. She wanted to know that the young child Lily and James Potter had so proudly loved and died protecting had grown up to be something that could send chills running through Albus' spine as the boy reminded the older man of someone else.

"I'm afraid it is true, Minerva," Albus sighed, shaking his head gently. "I think we need to prepare for the worst as I fear that these similarities between the Dark Lord and Harry won't end here. We were in his room only for a small time and the matron would tell us only little about him, and I fear that the similarities might run deeper than that. We need to be prepared to take action, if our fears seem to be true when he enters the school."

"I'm sure it's not that bad, Albus! It just cannot be. How can you so sure that he will follow the path You-Know-Who laid down in his years? The boy hardly remembers facing him!" Filius piped in. Albus just sighed.

"Neither of you were there today, _or_ approximately fifty years ago when I paid young Tom Riddle a very similar visit. The similarities between Tom and Harry are too big to ignore. Their situations seem to be almost exact replicas, almost identical with each other. The only – and the biggest – difference I've seen so far, is the fact that Harry was loved by his parents and lived with them for a year. We can only hope that his parents' love had left an affect."

Minerva looked stunned but couldn't help but try to think not everything was lost – yet.

"But, Albus, not everyone that had grown up in a children's home had turned out Dark. Tom Riddle was one of a kind and I am sure Harry Potter won't go down to follow that path. I hardly think it is possible as this is one of the most powerful Light schools in the Wizarding World. I think we can affect him by the way we treat him, we just need to encourage him to embrace his Light inheritance and to ignore whatever nurture he might have inclining towards the Dark."

Now Severus decided to interfere for the first time during this conversation. He could see that Minerva was scared for the boy, cared for the child and downright refused to believe there was something terribly wrong with the Potter boy.

"Minerva," Severus snapped, "you weren't there. You didn't hear how frightened the matron was, you didn't be there to realize the boy had _hurt_ those who had hurt him – and you most importantly did not _see_ him. He is frightening and I am certain that he will be as Dark as the magic I felt pulsating around him. He is strong and he is very Dark and I could recognize the similarities between him and the Dark Lord, even when not having met the Dark Lord in his teens. Their magic is similar and the boy _will_ be the death of us, one day, of that I am certain."

"I think we should give the boy a chance," squealed Filius. "I agree with Minerva. If we guide him into the right direction, he might not follow the darer path."

"I'm not sure if that'll work with him," Albus murmured, still worried. "I think we just have to keep a keen eye on him and interfere if he tries to do something. As long as he is just a student, we should in my opinion to let him be. I'm afraid I made a mistake by leaving him to his relatives and I hope I'm not making yet another today, by letting him be who he currently is instead of trying to push him."

Minerva huffed.

"I remember trying to warn you, Albus, when you decided to leave him to that family. I told you they were the worst kind of muggles imaginable, no wonder they dropped him off."

Albus sighed. "Right, thank you Minerva. Well, I suggest we allow Harry to be, as long as he doesn't cause any harm to others. I hope that being sorted into Gryffindor might get him settled – although, I still advice you to keep an eye on him and report back immediately should you notice something about him. Maybe this will be all the push needed that will make him follow the path he needs to follow."

The professors nodded and one after another they left Headmaster's Office and returned to their duties, whatever they happened to be at the moment. When they all had gone, Albus Dumbledore leaned into his arms and gave a deep sigh.

"I fear that I have made yet another grave mistake, Fawkes," he murmured at his familiar.

The mighty red-gold phoenix trilled soothingly from its place on a golden perch and hid his head under his wing, before falling asleep and leaving the Headmaster alone with his musings.


	2. The Diagon Alley

_**CHAPTER 2  
**_ _ **The Diagon Alley**_

After the two wizards' departure, Harry settled on his chair and gazed at the envelope he currently held in his hand. He shot one quick glance at his door, which had remained closed before he finally allowed the careful mask he had planted on his face to grumble apart. There was no need to appear childish and innocent as the two professors no longer were in his presence and he didn't have to make a good impression on them. Not that their impression of him really mattered, but he'd rather not give away his secrets too soon. He would have just enough time to ponder on the impressions he wanted to make as soon as the school would start. Now, the only thing that mattered was the envelope he held in his hand and more importantly, the letter inside it. He wasn't quite sure what to expect from the letter but he was sure it would explain at least some things as those professors had no really been very forthcoming. They had just told him he had magic and that was is. He supposed that he would be some kind of a wizard or a warlock – but he honestly had no idea who he really was in this world that had just opened its doors to him.

With a sinister smile on his lips, Harry ripped the envelope open and threw it aside as it no longer held any importance to him; the real treasure was the letter inside. He had absolutely no idea what to expect when he opened the envelope but eventually he had the thick piece of parchment in his hands. He spent a moment just looking at it, admiring it, trying to understand that he was now holding a ticket out of his miserable life in the children's home.

On top of the parchment was a Hogwarts' sigil; a bold letter H with an eagle, a lion, a badger and a snake. Below the crest was a text, in a shape of a banner that said ' _Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus_ '. He had no idea of the meaning of those words or the different animals depicted in the sigil, but he could figure out that the letter H in the middle stood for Hogwarts. It wasn't a really difficult leap to take as it actually was to be expected. He just snorted at the sigil before reading ahead, eager to find out what the letter itself said.

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY  
_ _Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)_

Harry couldn't help himself as he burst out laughing. There was no chance in hell he would ever address professor Dumbledore with all those titles. It was just ridiculous amount of titles and none of them actually made any sense to him but he supposed that in the Wizarding World they supposedly meant that this Dumbledore was a significant person. He also couldn't help but notice that while professor Dumbledore had mentioned that professor Snape was a teacher in this school, he had never said anything about his own position. Harry found that to be quite interesting and thought that maybe he could use that piece of information to his advantage somehow. He smirked as he thought how he could perhaps cause some kind of an outrage if he were to slip that professor Dumbledore was the one that had most likely decided to drop him here, in a non-magic children's home. He supposed that if the conditions were right it might make this Dumbledore person look not so good after all.

"This is an interesting piece of information he never cared to share," Harry murmured gently and a sly smile spread to his lips. He turned his mind back to the letter at hand, proceeding to read it as he still was to find out what it could tell him.

 _Dear Mr. Potter_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on 1 September._

 _Yours sincerely,  
_ _Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress_

Harry smirked as he unfolded a new piece of parchment, this time the equipment list mentioned in the previous letter. He skimmed it through before folding it neatly and put it beside him as it wasn't needed right now. He just closed his eyes and thought about the supplies the letter had listed. He felt... well, he didn't even know what he felt right now. He was bewildered, stunned, happy, excited – all those at the same time and still neither of them. It was surely nice to understand who he was and where he belonged in this world but all that just made him hate these people with whom he had to live even more. He just hated this _filth_ he had to put up with and he was quite happy that he had kept his feelings about his surroundings his own knowledge as he had a nagging feeling they would not be appreciated. After all, he was left to live with them to begin with, so it had to mean that those others had nothing against them. He, however, was certain that there would have been other places to him to live in, a place amongst his own kind – but no, instead they had made him to stay here, even now when they actually knew for sure how he had to live.

Harry scowled. Here he just was shunned, despised and surrounded by people he thought didn't even deserve to be called people, to him they were just bugs under his shoes, filthy creatures that were inferior to him. He was happy to know that he, indeed, was greatly different from them and it was always nice to know for sure you were better than somebody else - and this time these orphans wouldn't be competing even in the same scale with him, to say the least.

Snorting once more, Harry rubbed his temples and moved the letters aside before making his way towards his bed. It was already quite late and he wanted to go to bed so morning would come at least a bit faster and he would be able to make a trip to London. He knew he still needed to get a permission from the matron to leave the premises but he supposed it wouldn't be the hardest part. He wasn't oblivious about the effect he had on the personnel of the orphanage and he knew most of the people here were frightened of him – for a good reason, though – and now he would use it to his own advantage. He still hated the fact that he needed to get permission to leave as it made him feel like they were prisoners of some kind and needed a permission in order to get on parole. It was a thought he despised perhaps even more than having to live here. He knew that the matron had always used to call it a precaution that the kids had to get her to agree their outings but to Harry it was just an annoyance. He would never call this rat hole a home so he wouldn't be all depressed if he got lost and couldn't get back to the orphanage. It would probably just be his lucky day.

Still smirking, he changed into his pyjamas and climbed to bed. He wasn't actually very tired but very excited to get to London and couldn't wait till morning. He switched the lights off and chuckled as he could hear how the items in his room rattled. They still used to do that whenever he got high in his excitement and the rattling was one of the things he hardly knew how to control. He sighed, tomorrow would be a day he would enjoy immensely and he just couldn't wait.

o

Harry peeked through his fringe at the overcast skies over the orphanage. This was the day he would finally get the supplies he needed for his first year in Hogwarts and he had to admit he was excited. He might not show it as he was used to bottling up his emotions but inside, he was bustling with energy and eagerness and had already had a hard time trying to control his magic and prevent it from making everything in his vicinity shake and rattle in tune with his emotions. He played lazily with the coins in his pocket, the matron had given him a bit money for the bus ride. He chuckled lightly as he stopped a bus and stepped in.

The journey to London was quite uneventful in itself and Harry could find the pub called the Leaky Cauldron quite easily. It would have been very hard to miss a large and odd-looking building with a cauldron-shaped plaque over the doorway. Harry was thrilled, although, he kept sure that his face didn't give his feelings away and remained blank. He had found the pub even faster than he had thought and had to wonder how that made sense as he thought that the wizards wanted to keep their world a secret yet the pub was so easily located. This was an unexpectedly sloppy way to keep secrets. However, he just shrugged and marched at the door, pulling it open before stepping inside.

The strong sense of belonging was instant. From the very first moment inside the pub Harry knew that this was his word, a place where he actually belonged, although, something had clearly went horribly from to him end up in that loathsome orphanage. These were his kin, his people and nothing like those he had been forced to grow up with as these people had magic just like him and this was the first place he ever felt he belonged in. In the end, he spent a moment just looking around, until he saw the counter and the man he was supposed to go to in order to get his supplies. The man rubbed glasses clean with a piece of old cloth. Harry smirked; to him that cloth looked like it would hardly do any good for the glasses and needed replacing.

With a deep sigh, he made sure no one saw him and settled in the corner and made sure he had that childish mask on his face in case someone managed to see him. He had no intention to ask for help, he wanted to sit around and keep an eye on these people as he figured that eventually one of them would have to leave and he would get his chance to get into the alley he would find his supplies from. He was prepared to a long and boring wait but it was abruptly cut short when the bartender noticed him and crossed the floor over to him.

"You okay there, lad?"

Harry could barely resist a scowl. Apparently no one here bothered to notice that he wanted to be alone – but as the bartender was with him already, he might as well get what he wanted and get on with it. He hated that he had to ask but he reckoned that it would be only temporary sting in his pride and then it would be all forgotten.

"Yes, sir," he murmured silently, trying to embrace his role as a normal child who has gotten lost. It appeared that his act was successful as the bartender smiled gently and waved him to go on.

"I need to get to the Diagon Alley. Could you possibly help me?"

Harry couldn't even begin to describe how much he hated the role he was forced to play but it seemed to fool the bartender who just nodded and pointed towards the door across the room.

"I got one customer I need to serve but could you go there, through that door and wait me there? I'll pop there as soon as I got the customer done and show you through."

Harry nodded and crossed the room, careful to avoid any attention and slipped through the door to some kind of a back yard with trash bins and a brick wall. He crunched his nose in disgust at the sight of the bins. This place was filthy and he couldn't wait until he got away from here. He supposed that he needed to find out if there was another way to the Alley as he had absolutely no intentions to use this way in more than once after this.

A sound from behind his back had Harry turning around with a scowl on his face that melted away as soon as he recognized the bartender. Apparently the man had managed to get rid of his customer and could now aid him into the Alley and Harry could carry on with his shopping. The bartender seemed to be oblivious of Harry's disgust and just pulled some kind of a wooden stick out of his pocket. Harry quirked an eyebrow at that but said nothing as the older man turned to face the brick wall and cast one final look at Harry over his shoulder.

"Pay attention to the sequence, could you. I can't be here letting you in every time so you need to learn to do this on your own, right."

Harry just nodded, eager to get on with it and watched as the older man tapped a short sequence of bricks at the wall, slowly so Harry could memorize the pattern. As soon as the man was finished, he put the stick back into his pocket and stepped back.

"There you go, lad, welcome to the Diagon Alley. I'll be in the pub if you need me," he said before vanishing back inside.

"Yeah, sure," Harry snorted. He had no intention at all to call the man if he needed help as he wouldn't be needing any. Then he just stared at the wall as the bricks started to move and eventually created some kind of a doorway to a bustling street.

o

Harry couldn't contain his smirk as he walked down the Alley for the first time. He had never in his life seen anything quite as marvellous and he had to admit that he had been a little lost at first. However, he didn't need to be lost for very long, as soon as one of those shopping at the Diagon Alley noticed his slightly troubled expression they had been more than eager to assist him. Finally, he had gotten directions to the Wizarding Bank, Gringotts, and when he saw the building he had to snicker. Even without knowing where the Bank was it would have been extremely hard not to spot it. The white building that looked like it was made of marble practically screamed at him and the text _Gringotts_ written in block letter would have been very difficult to miss. He smirked as he strutted leisurely towards the huge but a bit wonky building. Geez, why did everything here have to be so bloody pompous?

When Harry reached the front doors of Gringotts, he had to take a moment to stare at the strange creatures standing outside the bank. He had never seen anything that reminded them in the slightest in his life. He arched one eyebrow questioningly when one of them glanced at him. He could only barely contain his sneer as he hated to be looked at as nowadays most people seemed to look at him mostly with ulterior motives. He had grown to like his solitude as it meant nobody would be picking on him or trying to make his life more miserable than it already was. Although, those who tried that tended to find themselves hurt or otherwise found their positions compromised. It was just something Harry had had to learn, as he wanted to remain in peace as it allowed him some time to think whatever he wished.

He said nothing to the creatures clad in uniforms of scarlet and gold, just stared and pointedly ignored the way how they bowed at him as he passed them on his way inside the bank.

Smiling, Harry passed the first set of bronze doors and walked past another set of those weird creatures and pair of silver doors with an engraving. He didn't bother to read the text, he just wanted to get the business done so that he could finally get the things he needed.

No matter how stoic Harry tried to appear, he couldn't help looking astonished as soon as he had stepped through the silver doors. He had had certain expectations about what the Wizarding Bank could look like but he had not expected to be met with a glorious look as it was. He could right away see approximately one hundred strange creatures working on separate counters that were so high Harry doubted he would be able to see over them even if he had a footstool. Some of those creatures were using miniscule scales, weighing something that looked very much like precious stones and some of them worked with piles and piles of gold. He could also see several doors leading out of the atrium and had no idea where those doors would lead if you were to open them. Harry had to admit that this place was absolutely stunning and exceeded all his expectations tenfold. Now he just had to find somebody who could aid him with the businesses he had come to finish here.

"Excuse me," he murmured gently as he reached the far end of the atrium and stepped in front of a high counter that almost looked like a speaker stool. There was only one creature behind the counter but this one looked rather important, so it was likely that he would be able to help or redirect him to someone who could. The creature halted its work and peered at Harry, its face expressionless.

The creature's face was swarthy and it had a sharp beard and a bald head and it had a clever look that told Harry it would be incredibly stupid to try to cross this creature as he most likely wouldn't like the consequences. So, Harry just summoned a childish and polite expression on his face and smiled.

"Name?" the creature stated and Harry just smiled.

"Harry Potter."

The creature smiled – and Harry could saw it wasn't a pleasant smile. He didn't think that these creatures were able to smile pleasantly, they seemed to be quite ruthless in appearance and Harry stifled a shudder.

"And how can I help young Mr. Potter?"

Harry stood a bit straighter, trying to appear a bit taller and more suitable for business. He wanted to be seen something else than a child as it wouldn't be beneficial for him to be seen only as a child. He wanted to show that he was capable of taking care of what needed to be done.

"I would like to meet someone who is responsible of my vault. I would like to make a withdrawal."

The creature nodded, fiddled with some papers and then looked at Harry again.

"Does Mr. Potter have his key?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I haven't lived in the Wizarding World and the key to my vault is not in my possession. I wasn't aware that I even had a key, I wasn't aware I even had a vault. Is it too much to ask that you get me a key? As I would like to be able to take care of my businesses on my own."

The creature just smiled.

"It's no problem at all. I will call another goblin to take care of the matters as soon as possible." Harry smiled. So, they were called goblins, that was one nice piece of information. The goblin continued, "If you could stand aside and wait over there and someone will call you in momentarily."

Harry nodded in thanks and made his way towards a row of chairs on the nearby wall. He sat down and looked around him. There were several people in the bank, some of them dressed in similar scarlet and gold outfits as the goblins outside the bank, Harry assumed those people also worked in the bank. None of them seemed too interested in staring at him which he actually found quite pleasant. At least, it gave him a sense of peace and he could concentrate on things he needed to think about.

"Mr. Potter?" a foreign voice called and Harry looked up only to find himself face to face with yet another goblin.

"Yes?"

"I am Griphook and I am the manager of the Potter vaults. If you could follow me to the side room and we can sort all things out in a matter of mere moments."

Harry smiled. Finally he was getting everything sorted and could continue his shopping. He stood up and followed Griphook into a room behind of the doors he had seen earlier. The goblin gestured him to sit and Harry graciously took a seat and leaned into the table.

"So, I suppose you have been told that I would like to have the key to my vault and wish to do some withdrawals?" Harry murmured silently, looking at Griphook through his half-lidded eyes.

The goblin nodded. Griphook reached into one of the shelves on the far wall and took out a piece of parchment, which, as far as Harry could tell, was completely blank. He didn't say anything but arched one of his eyebrows in question. Griphook noticed it but didn't explain. He just pulled a small silver dagger from a box he had took from underneath the table and placed both the parchment and the dagger at the table between them.

"Now, Mr. Potter. If you could take this dagger and make a cut across your palm. This is to insure that you are who you say you are, it's a basic security procedure as we want to be sure our customers' property is kept as safe as possible."

Harry reached to grab the dagger and glanced at Griphook quickly. He then flattened his palm and made a careful cut across his hand, careful not to slice too deep or not to make a ragged line, which would be harder to heal properly. He bit his lip as a slight pain seared from his hand, not uttering a sound and gave Griphook a questioning look as he tried to prevent dripping his blood on the mahogany table.

"Let your blood to dripple on this parchment. There isn't a specific place, just on the parchment. It doesn't require much, just a little until the parchment begins to glow as the spells begin to do their work. When that happens, you can heal the cut as we wait for the results. It shouldn't take long as this is one of our standard procedures and it has been specifically modified to be quick when used."

Harry did as he was told, angling his hand so his blood could flow from his palm to the parchment resting on the table. It didn't take very long until the parchment started to emit a gentle white glow and Griphook gestured Harry that he could remove his hand and heal the wound. Harry sent a concentrated pulse of magic into his palm and efficiently healed the cut before focusing on the piece of parchment, wondering what the spelled artefact would do. His musings were interrupted when Griphook snatched the parchment from the table and gave it a thorough look.

"Everything seems to be in order, Lord Potter."

Harry smirked, although he had no idea why the goblin had called him a Lord. Griphook seemed to notice that as he proceeded to explain,

"This parchment reveals your identity and parentage. It also shows all the respective titles the person whose blood was used carries and it quite supple way to ensure that our customers are who they say they are. So, it has revealed your rights as a Lord of your House – although these right cannot be activated before you turn fifteen. Normally most people won't activate their right as a Lord until their seventeenth birthday or later as the previous Lord, normally a father, is still alive but – ahem – your case happens to be quite extraordinary. You, however, could take your place as a Lord Potter as soon as you turn fifteen and choose to be emancipated. It is not of a common occurrence to have a Lord who is also technically a minor but it can be done when the previous Lord has passed and the House is left with only an Heir. "

"So, that means that I could claim my Lordship as soon as my fifteenth birthday comes?" Harry questioned, fairly interested in this little fact. Griphook nodded.

"Exactly, young Lord. As soon as you become emancipated you will be considered an adult in the face of law and you can control your property – until then, one of our goblins will be your link. But now, moving forward."

Griphook handed the parchment over to Harry who took it curiously and gasped at the new information he was able to get from that simple piece of parchment.

 _Name: Harry James Potter  
_ _Date of Birth: 31.7.1980 (age 11)  
B_ _lood status: Half-blood_

 _Mother: Lily Potter (née Evans)  
_ _Date of Birth: 30.1.1960  
_ _Date of Death: 31.10.1981 (age 21)  
_ _Blood status: Muggle-born_

 _Father: James Potter I  
_ _Date of Birth: 27.3.1960  
_ _Date of Death: 31.10.1981 (age 21)  
_ _Blood status: Pureblood_

 _Godfather: Sirius Black  
_ _Magical Guardian: Albus Dumbledore (self-appointed)_

Even this amount of information would have been satisfactory for Harry who had previously known nothing about his parents and his family. It was nice to know their names and he liked the fact that he did indeed have a godfather, although, he wasn't pleased about the identity of his magical guardian. He didn't quite understand all the background information about magical guardians but even common sense suggested that it meant Dumbledore was at least to some extent responsible for his well-being. And so far, he hadn't done anything to ever make sure Harry had a proper upbringing. He also didn't quite like the fact that the parchment stated that Dumbledore had apparently appointed himself as his magical guardian, whatever that happened to mean.

He was also shocked that his parents had been only 21 when they had died, just ten years older than he was now – incredibly young and he couldn't help feeling a sharp pang of sadness that ran through him. He glanced at Griphook and the goblin just motioned for him to read ahead.

Harry was stunned as he saw the next piece of information the parchment held.

 _Inherited titles:_

 _Lord of the Noble House of Potter  
_ _Heir of the Noble and the most Ancient House of Black  
_ _Heir of the most Ancient House of Peverell  
_ _Heir of the most Ancient House of Gryffindor  
_ _Magical Heir Apparent of the most Ancient House of Slytherin_

Geez, who would have believed he had one Lordship and was heir to several other Wizarding Houses that held no meaning to him. He had literally no idea what the Houses were and what it meant to be the heir – or a Lord. Harry sighed and gave the parchment back to Griphook as he no longer had any need for it.

"So, now that my identity is cleared can we proceed? I'd like to have a key to my vault and take some money out. I'd also like to know if there had been any unauthorized withdrawals since my parents' deaths."

Griphook nodded and brought a small golden key from somewhere Harry couldn't actually tell. He just took the delicate key and put it into his pocket. He had to get a pouch or something to put his key into; he just couldn't continue walking around with a key in his pocket. It was too risky and he didn't want to take any chances.

"Before I make the withdrawal I can tell you, that there has been monthly withdrawals of 1,000 Galleons from your vault by Albus Dumbledore. Am I correct when I assume you want these withdrawals discontinued?"

"Yes," Harry snarled. He couldn't believe it. The Headmaster of Hogwarts had been taking money out of his vault for whatever reason, completely unauthorized as he certainly haven't given him a permission to do so – and he never would. It was his money and Dumbledore was his Headmaster, and as such, he had no right to use his money. And he was also quite certain that not even the man's status as his magical guardian allowed him to take Harry's money from his vault.

Griphook nodded and said, "Done. Now, how much would you like to withdraw?"

Harry frowned. He had no idea how much the Wizarding money was worth.

"Before I answer to that question, I'd like to know how much Wizarding money is worth. I have lived outside this world as am new."

Griphook just smiled. "Seventeen Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle."

Harry nodded. "I'd like to make a withdrawal of 500 Galleons."

The goblin nodded. "Very well, Lord Potter."

Harry watched as the goblin disappeared from the room before returning with a velvet pouch, which he handed to Harry.

"Here's your money, Lord Potter. May your gold never blemished."

"Likewise, Griphook," Harry responded even though he had no idea if that was the correct way to answer. The goblin, however, smiled politely before leading him out of the room.

Harry smirked as he returned to the Diagon Alley.

"Right, now the supplies." He tried to remember what he needed for the year. "Let's start with the robes and uniform."

He wandered around the Diagon Alley in search of a clothing shop. At the same time he used it as an opportunity to become accustomed with the Alley as he wanted to find all of the necessary shops easily and without much search. It just wouldn't do to get lost when he had a lots to do and limited amount of time to use. He loved it here but he knew he had to return to the orphanage before end, even though it just filled his heart with hatred and bitterness. The orphanage wasn't a place for someone like him to stay in and live. He should have lived in the Wizarding World, amongst his own people and away from those bugs that had never done anything useful for him.

Eventually, he found a small shop called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and stepped inside. Right away, he coughed, trying to ignore the dusty interior of the shop. He just wanted to get the business done and be gone. Harry shrugged, he hated the feeling inside the shop. His musings, however, were interrupted when a small and squat witch peered at him through the veil of some black robes.

"Going to Hogwarts, dear?" she asked with a gentle voice. Harry immediately decided he didn't like Madam Malkin and he frowned at her, taking in her mauve clothing. He didn't answer to her but it didn't seem to bother her.

"Got a lot of them lately," she murmured. "Right, go over there, dear, I have another lad being fitted up right now."

Harry nodded and walked down the aisle of the shop, stepping onto the footstool and fixed his gaze straight forward. He just wanted to get this all sorted as soon as humanly possible. Another witch started to take his measurements and Harry did his best to ignore her. He just held his sneer and focused on nothing special. His thought, however, were interrupted when Madam Malkin pulled a black robe over his head and started to pin it to the right length and the right shape.

Harry did his best to ignore the woman who just pinned his robes to make sure he would get them as rightsized as possible. From the corner of his eye, Harry inspected the other boy next to him. It was more than clear that this boy came from a poor family, he was visibly uncomfortable about getting new robes and occasionally murmured that he already did have some hand-me-down robes that his siblings had used when they were of his age. The witch pinning the redhead's robes ignored his embarrassed ramblings and just kept on doing what she did. Harry snorted, amused. This boy clearly was something totally unexpected. And apparently, he had heard Harry's snort.

The redhead turned into his direction and glared at Harry who just smirked before smiling brightly and making sure he looked approachable and sweet, while in truth he didn't want to speak with the boy.

"Something funny?" the redhead asked, clearly not happy about the fact that Harry was amused with him. Harry just smirked.

"Not at all," he murmured and fixed his gaze forward. The other boy seemed to be ignoring this as he tried to make a conversation.

"What House you think you'll be in at Hogwarts?" the boy asked and now Harry had to actually fight against his impulse to roll his eyes.

"It hardly matters," Harry answered, his tone clipped.

He ignored how the other boy seemed to flinch at his tone. The redhead wasn't going to drop the subject and Harry was beginning to get annoyed. He also ignored Madam Malkin who had tucked her mouth full of pins and was currently folding his robe in order to get it fit his scrawny form.

"I would kill myself if I ended up in Slytherin. Everyone in that House is evil as they are basically Dark wizards and Death Eaters in training. I honestly hope I'll end up in Gryffindor, I'm sure my mum would be embarrassed if her son would end up in Hufflepuff. I guess that Ravenclaw isn't that bad, they're a bit too know-it-all bookworms but even that is better than being a slimy snake."

Harry did his best to tune the redhead out, as he had no interest whatsoever to listen to his bigotry and irritating rambling. As soon as Madam Malkin finished pinning him and pulled his robe over his head, he jumped off his stool and dusted himself off. He didn't even look at the redhead as he followed Madam Malkin back to the front of the shop where he waited as she finished his order. Finally, Madam Malkin handed him the finished school uniform and robes.

"That'll be twenty Galleons, dear," she said and Harry grabbed the gold from his pouch and handed it to the lady.

From Madam Malkin's Harry made his way towards the end of the Diagon Alley and smiled when he found what he had been looking for, Ollivander's Wands. As he entered, he could hear a bell jingle somewhere deep inside the shop and he could see that Mr. Ollivander was nowhere to be seen. He leaned into the counter and tapped a steady rhythm with his fingers, waiting for the wand maker to appear.

"Ah, young Lord Potter," a calm voice said from somewhere close to Harry between the long shelves and Harry startled.

When he managed to locate the speaker he could see an old, eerie looking man staring at him. He shivered slightly under the man's keen gaze and soon averted his eyes, as he couldn't meet Mr. Ollivander's gaze any longer.

"I have been waiting for you since the day you were born. I thought I'd be seeing you soon."

Harry just stared at this peculiar, pale-eyed man in front of him whose eyes were shining in the dim light like little moons, making him look a bit spooky.

"I can see you look astoundingly like your father, even though you have your mother's eyes. I can remember the day they were here in my shop, getting their first wands. It seems like that day was just yesterday when it has to be almost twenty years ago already, oh, how time flies. I remember your mother's wand, ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow tree. A nice wand for charms, quite an opposite to the wand your father preferred. He always preferred a mahogany wand, eleven inches, pliable and a very good wand for transfigurations, a tad bit more powerful, that wand. I wonder what wand will choose you, Lord Potter as the wand always chooses its wizard, never the other way around."

At this point Harry was totally confused. He had no idea of what the man was talking about and didn't like it at all. Mr. Ollivander just smiled eerily and stepped forward until they were standing almost nose-to-nose. He flinched slightly back and tried to control his expression as he could easily see himself reflected from those eerily distracting misty eyes that stared him intently.

"Ah, and that's where..." Mr. Ollivander lifted his finger to trace the lighting scar on Harry's forehead. Harry had to suppress a shiver when he felt those long, bone white fingers on his skin. "I can remember every single wand I have sold," he murmured softly. "If I'm correct with this one, thirteen and a half inches and yew. A very powerful wand, very powerful wand indeed. Capable to do so much, if I had known what it went out to the world to do..."

He interrupted his words and turned to face one of the shelves.

"Which is your wand arm?"

"The right," Harry answered right away. This was an easy question to say the least.

Mr. Ollivander just nodded and took a measuring tape and took several measures of his arm, from shoulder to elbow and then a few more from his elbow to the end of his fingers. Then he measured his height and some other measurements before putting the tape away and started to mumble as he searched the shelves.

"Every single one of Ollivander wands has a core of a magical substance, a powerful magical substance. I tend to use phoenix feathers, dragon heartstring and unicorn hairs – but I know that other wand makers also use other cores, like thestral hairs, Veela hairs or hairs of other magical creatures. The standard is that no Ollivander wands are the same but there are cases of twin wands when the very same tree branch has been used in two wands and the same creature has donated two feathers or two tail hairs. It is quite common to those with wands of dragon heartstring to have brother wands as the heartstrings can be used in the making on several wands – although I myself like to avoid that as brother wands can be quite temperamental if forced to work against each other. And of course you can never quite get the best results when using someone else's wand which is one of the main reasons we make own wands to every witch and wizard out there."

The wand maker pulled one of the long cases out, opened it and held the wand for Harry to take.

"Well, try this one. Twelve and a half inches, made of hazel wood with a core of dragon heartstring. Surprisingly swishy."

Harry took the wand and frowned when he felt nothing at all. Mr. Ollivander gave him a smile and advised, "Give it a wave."

Harry waved the wand and almost dropped it when the closest window blew up and both of them had to drop to the ground to avoid getting hit. Harry quickly put the wand down and apologized. Mr. Ollivander, however, seemed not to be disturbed.

"No, definitely not," he murmured and turned to take another long case, giving Harry a second wand. "Try this one. Twelve and a half inches, redwood, phoenix feather, quite nicely flexible wand and a very good wand for transfiguration."

Another wave and one exploded shelf later Harry had yet another wand to try. And another, and another, and yet another. Mr. Ollivander gave him the next wand.

"Try this one. Fourteen inches, poplar, unicorn hair core and quite supple wand."

Harry gave the wand a good wave and even though he had hoped that he would finally find his wand, he just managed to blew the goldfish bulb up on the door side counter. This time Mr. Ollivander didn't even comment, he just presented him another wand to try.

"Thirteen inches, hawthorn, phoenix feather and a very unbending wand."

This time Harry felt something. It wasn't as big as he had hoped for and he gave the wand a wave. This time the destruction caused was a bit more focused and not as large. Mr. Ollivander smiled.

"It's not quite right yet but we're getting there. I think we have found your core and now I know that your wand has to be an unbending one. Quite interesting, not what I had expected from you, Lord Potter, but I'm sure we'll find just the right wand for you."

Several wands later they had still not found the perfect fit. Mr. Ollivander kept on saying he had an idea what he needed to find but it soon became apparent that he didn't have the right wand made just yet. The wand maker gave Harry a pointed look and gave him a sign to follow him into the back room. There Harry could find several pieces of wood and that was where Mr. Ollivander took him.

"I do not have the right wand for you done but it'll be an easy feat to do one now. All you need to do is trace your hand over all these woods until you can feel which one of them is calling you. That's the wood for your wand then."

Harry nodded in understanding and started to walk along the line of pieces of wood when he felt a strong tug towards one of the lighter ones. He picked it up, twirling it in his fingers before giving it to the wand maker.

"It's this one," he said and crossed his arms across his chest. Mr. Ollivander just stared at him with a peculiar expression.

"Interesting, very interesting indeed," he murmured but went on to extract the core of one of the wands that had worked the best with Harry. He levitated the feather to the wood and made a twirling motion with his wand, forcing the feather to enter the new wand before reshaping the wood.

"We can go to the front now," the wand maker said. "Your wand is almost finished."

Harry nodded and leaned to the counter, staring at the wand maker as he worked with his wand. He had never seen how a wand maker crafted a wand and now he had a chance of learning at least something. It was a chance too delicious to pass.

"This is indeed the most peculiar wand I have made so far. Twelve and a half inches, yew and a phoenix feather. Very unbending wand. But the most interesting part of this is the fact that this is twin to the wand which gave you the scar on your forehead. It'll be nine Galleons, Lord Potter."

Harry took his new wand and pocketed it and gave the coins to Mr. Ollivander. He was still quite stunned of what he had just learned about his wand. Now, however, it was time to get the rest of his supplies before returning to the orphanage before making his way to King's Cross and to Hogwarts. Harry felt a smirk crossing his face and he knew that it wasn't a particularly pleasant sight.

o

Harry smiled as he saw the sign _Magical Menagerie_ and recognized the shop as some kind of a pet shop for magical animals of different species. He wanted to have a pet, something to talk to, something to have with him. He tried to force the grin away from his lips but found it to be an impossible task as he pushed the door open, pointedly ignoring the gentle jingle inside the boutique.

Inside he could see the oddest collection of different animals he had ever seen. He could see that this place didn't have owls, he could see the shop full of cats, toads, several kinds of rats, a turtle, bunnies and even slugs. Slugs! Harry had to fight in order to contain his laughter at that point, who would ever want to get a slug. Cats and other animals were easy to understand but never had he even imagined that he would see slugs in a pet shop. Even the mere idea was utterly hilarious. However, it wasn't the slugs, which managed to steal Harry's interest and his curiosity. No, Harry could easily hear distant chatter in one corner and curiously, he stalked closer – even though he already had an idea what had caught his attention.

Harry completely ignored the shopkeeper as he stopped by a large terrarium and smirked when he saw several different snakes inside. None of them was even distantly familiar to him, so he thought they must have been some kind of magical breeds of snakes, which only made them more interesting to him. He had always been fascinated with snakes, since his early childhood he had known that he could understand what snakes were saying and a bit later on, he found out that he could speak to snakes in their own language – and that was when Harry decided that he really liked those creatures many hated and despised.

' _Hello, darlings,'_ Harry hissed gently and grinned inwardly when all of the snakes turned to stare at him and all of them shut down. One of them, a beautiful black snake, reminding Harry of some kind of an adder, slithered forward and lifted its head to rest somewhere close to Harry's eye-level.

' _Youngling's a Speaker?'_ the snake inquired and Harry smirked.

' _Yes,'_ he hissed breathily and watched with fascination as the snakes started to hiss pleasantly. This time their hisses held no words but he could tell they were pleased.

' _Would the Speaker take one of us?'_ the snake who had spoken to him asked. Harry glanced it thoroughly.

Before he could answer, the shopkeeper stepped to his side and made a gesture that looked like she was going to yank him away from the snake tank. He just gave her an annoyed look.

"Most of those snakes is extremely venomous," she said, "I wouldn't recommend being close to them even if they are contained in the terrarium."

"How much do they cost?" Harry just responded and the shopkeeper was stunned. Harry found her expression utterly hilarious and had to contain his amusement.

"You really want to buy one of them?" she questioned and Harry shrugged.

"Why not, if one of them wants to become my familiar then I'd like to buy one."

The shopkeeper looked positively stunned at this point and Harry chuckled darkly. His smirk widened when he saw her nod hesitantly and Harry waved the woman away, telling her that he wanted to choose his familiar in peace. As soon as the annoying woman had left he turned back to the snakes.

' _I'd love to take one of you with me, as my familiar,'_ he hissed and chuckled as his words caused quite a ruckus amongst the snakes. _'I, however, cannot choose between you lovelies. I'll hand the choice to you, which one of you wants to come with me as my familiar – and maybe eventually even be tied to me with a familiar bond.'_

The black snake, which had spoken to him, slithered forward and nodded its head slightly. Now Harry could see that it wasn't entirely like an adder as it also had a hood like some kind of a cobra. That only made him more intrigued with this precious little snake.

' _I'll come with you and I'll be willing to bond with you if you so choose.'_

Harry only nodded and turned to face the terrified looking shopkeeper, who luckily didn't look like she had heard their conversation. Harry smiled as gently as he could and pointed the ebony black snake.

"I'd like to purchase this pretty snake if that is alright with you."


	3. The Hogwarts Express

Sorry about the long-ish delay in updating this story. My spring has been a killer with my studies. I'm currently trying to finish my degree in university and trying to finish my thesis and those two tasks are pretty much taking up all my time - and this isn't the only story I'm currently working with. So, I've had to try to divide my time between all of these tasks. But now the third chapter is here (finally!) and I can assure you that I'm not giving up on this. Not willingly at least, I am not a Seer so I cannot tell if something unpredictable happens that prevents me from writing this but it is my intention to make this a finished story (quite likely the first fanfiction story I have finished if I succeed in this task - and most definitely the first one I've finished writing in English). I also want to thank all of you who have followed/favourited/reviewed this. You guys are awesome! I'm stunned by the number of you who have done one of those previously mentioned things. I could have never even imagined that this story would get that amount of readers, reviews - anything. I'm pretty much speechless with that. And flattered. I think it's awesome that so many people have liked this story or told me it's well written. I cannot even begin to describe how I feel about that. English isn't my first language and I'm certain I've made mistakes here and there - but the amount of feedback you guys give me, keeps me going and makes me feel so honoured. So, thank you! Thank you so very much!

Here is the chapter number three, it's 10 pages long in my editing software and it's unbeta'ed. So, there could be errors along the way. But I'll update the beta'ed version as soon as I get enough time to send this to my beta and get the proofread version back from her. But, enough of my babbling, here you go; chapter three of Like a Wolf (Falling to Pieces).

 _ **CHAPTER 3  
** **The Hogwarts Express**_

Harry couldn't help but frown. He hated being back in the orphanage, no, he _loathed_ it, even though he knew he didn't actually have any other place to stay and that after a while he would finally be getting away from there. He didn't cheer up even when he could feel his new snake slithering against his skin, touching it tentatively with its tongue. Harry just felt downright miserable, knowing that the other kids hated him, picked on him – having his beautiful snake with him didn't change the situation in the slightest.

However, he had already found it quite soothing to have a companion constantly at your side. It made him feel that at least someone liked him, at least someone even wanted him. Harry couldn't even begin to explain how comfortable it was to feel his snake familiar coiled around his upper arm, hidden beneath his clothes, sometimes even hissing gentle and soothing words whenever somebody decided it was their turn to try to make Harry's life a hell.

With a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, Harry petted the snake and leaned backwards on his bed, arm bent behind his head. The snake was currently lying curled up next to him, her emerald eyes glinting amusedly as she watched closely how Harry's chest moved in rhythm of his breathing. For Harry, this moment was one of those rare moments he could relax and enjoy his peace as no one could enter his room as he had taken his chance and locked the door. He could still hear the others stomping outside, some of them banging his door, shouting insults, trying to lure him out and rise to their bait. Nevertheless, Harry did his best to ignore all of them as he enjoyed the peace with his familiar.

Finally Harry realized something he had never even bothered to think about and stopped scratching his familiar and thus earning her attention.

' _I never asked,'_ Harry hissed when the snake had turned its head towards him, _'what kind of a snake are you? You don't really seem to be of any species I'm familiar with.'_

His familiar just gave a hissing chuckle and flickered her tongue. Harry smiled at her, reached out and traced her scaly back gently, making her arch under his touch.

' _I would be surprised if you recognized my species as I am a hybrid. I'm a magical cross between an adder and a cobra.'_

Her answer made Harry arch his eyebrows.

' _Magical? In what way?'  
_

' _Magic enhances my venom, makes more potent, more toxic. Magic in my veins also allows me to grow much larger than I would otherwise be able to.'_

This piece of information made Harry cast an evaluating glance at her. This particular piece of information was something far more intriguing than what he had expected when he had purchased his familiar from the shop in the Diagon Alley. He was yet to know what he would do with this knowledge. Perhaps nothing, but nonetheless it was far too early to decide that yet.

' _How large will you grow, then?'_ he hissed, pushed himself upright and tickled the snake gently. Then he abruptly had a thought and froze, his tickling halting. _'Sorry, I realized I never asked you; do you have a name?'_

The snake hissed another chuckle and reached to touch Harry's hand with her forked tongue.

' _I think I'll possibly grow to be very large, I'm not sure how large but I guess we'll see. You can, however, control my growth with your magic. If you think I'm getting too big for your liking, you can inhibit my growth temporarily by cutting the amount of magic you are automatically feeding me through our Familiar bond.'_

Harry smiled gently and gave her another tickle.

' _And yes, I do indeed have a name. I am called Ealga.'_

This time it was Harry's turn to chuckle lightly before rapping from his door interrupted them and Harry could hear the matron's irritated voice, muffled by the wooden door.

"Harry, ye need to open the door! It's time for supper and yer not goin' ter sit over the meal!"

"Yes, ma'am," he returned calmly, even though he was silently seething inside. No one would be commanding him, not anymore – and especially not these filthy little bugs that were no match to him when it came to power.

Harry cringed slightly as he stood up, holding his arm out for Ealga to coil around in order to be better able to get around the orphanage with him. He smiled as she hissed in discomfort when she was forced to hide under the clothing again, not being able to see and smell properly like Harry had noticed she liked to do. Ealga had rather reluctantly agreed to hide while in the orphanage as neither of them wanted to have her revealed and probably taken away from Harry. He had also been reluctant to ask her not to bite anyone without permission as he would have loved to frighten his fellow orphans to death with his familiar – but he also didn't want to get into trouble because of that. So, he just needed to be patient and a bit creative as he most certainly didn't plan to lie low and suffer silently while the others constantly shunned and bullied him.

He opened his door and grimaced as he saw one of his biggest bullies waiting outside his door, waiting for him to step outside so that the older girl would be able to pick on him – again. Harry scowled... hard and narrowed his eyes.

"So, the petty Potter has finally decided to grace us with his unwanted presence?" the bully, Patricia, sneered. Harry just snorted and twisted his arm slightly, so that Ealga could get into a better position inside his sleeve.

' _Ealga, I need you to peek from beneath my clothes. Sleeve, head hole, it doesn't matter for me so whatever is easier for you,'_ Harry hissed, taking pleasure from Patricia's positively terrified expression as the girl heard him hissing quietly. Harry couldn't help his smirk as he saw Ealga's head, peeking from his sleeve and making the older girl take a tentative step away from him.

Harry gave Ealga a gentle caress, making the snake to hiss breathily in pleasure as her eyes glinted maliciously as she stared at Patricia's terrified form. He ignored the older girl and made his way towards the staircase, impatient, as he just wanted to eat his dinner before returning to the peaceful solitude of his bedroom. However, he knew the other kids wouldn't let him be for the sake of it. They had always loved to tease him, they loved to make his life hell – they loved it as much as Harry loved to make them fear him.

When Harry had been younger he had thought the dining room resembled a hall of some sort and had called it a dining hall – but as he had gotten older, he had realized the room was small and really just that; a room. He felt his shoulders tense as soon as he stepped into the room, as he still didn't like the place. It was crowded most of the times with orphans who never stopped tormenting him if he didn't take matters into his own hands somehow. These little pieces of filth had always loved to make him squirm – but now it was to be left behind. Now that he knew he was better than them, more powerful than them, he would never again let them torment him – not without repercussions.

He scowled when one of the kids gave him a malicious glance and gave the child a look that made her cower and hide behind her chair. Harry sneered. Pathetic. These little filthy buggers were downright pathetic.

Harry took his seat and tapped the table with his fingers in an impatient rhythm. He wanted to finish this meal and get back to his room. His musings, however, were violently interrupted as one of the younger older orphans stormed into the room, waving one of Harry's new books he had bought from Diagon Alley. Harry blanched. This was bad, this was really bad. He was certain he had made sure none of those books were anywhere they could be easily found – so it had to mean that the kid's been digging through his stuff, and that made Harry beyond furious. These vermins had thought it was their right to look through his belongings and he could actually feel his magic slipping a bit out of his control. Ealga stirred in his sleeve, feeling his irritation and rage and readied herself to protect Harry if situation came down to a confrontation.

"I hope you do realize that my room is _mine_ and thus off limits to any of you?" he sneered, not really expecting an answer. He most certainly wasn't surprised as one of the orphans scowled at _him_ and spat, " _You_ don't have the right to forbid us from entering. It is your fault none of us have been adopted!"

That was eventually the thing that made Harry snort. These kids seriously blamed _him_ from the fact that they weren't able to convince any of the visiting families or couples to adopt them. That was _thick_!

"You realize that I don't have the power to control people's minds, do you? Or that _I_ don't go intruding _your_ rooms as I see fit and rummaging through your belongings. I'd appreciate if you showed me the very same courtesy," he snarled, not really expecting others to react accordingly.

"Well, you haven't earned that right!" one of the kids shouted and his words caused Harry to smirk. They were so stupid, so wonderfully and agonizingly thick. They had seriously no idea that the infringement they had just committed wouldn't go unpunished. Or maybe they were just plainly arrogant which wasn't more admirable trait, not at all.

Harry smiled and carefully kept his face impassive, even almost pleasant and he could right away see how the children around him started to relax a bit. They clearly thought they were out of trouble and in no kind of immediate danger from his side. How wrong they were, how terribly wrong. They really had no idea they had just gotten out of the frying pan and into the fire. With a small smile playing on his lips Harry turned his eyes to the girl holding his book. He concentrated on the feeling of pain, imagined the worst kind of pain he possibly could and _pushed_ , forced it upon the unfortunate kid. He smiled, as he looked how the girl collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain, the book long since forgotten. Harry made his way to his book without a word and picked it up, smoothing the folded pages and crouched next to the screaming girl, gently caressing her cheek. He knew for sure he didn't have much time before the insufferable matron would show up, alerted by anguished screams, and make him stop.

"I so hope you do remember after this that my room is strictly off limits – _as is my belongings_ ," he practically hissed at the broken girl, releasing the hold his magic had of the girl. "If I find _any_ of you in possession of anything that is mine, I swear that the pain _she_ feels now is going to feel like the gentlest caresses when compared to what I _will_ do to that unlucky fellow."

Harry lifted his eyes from his victim and glanced around the room. None of the others met his gaze and he smirked. They were acting exactly like terrified rodents they were. Maybe this would make them respect the very concept of privacy. Without another thought he reached into his sleeve and petted Ealga, who hadn't left the safe warmth of his clothing during the whole incident. Harry allowed the faintest of smiles to grace his lips.

"I believe I'll retire for the night as I'm not especially hungry anymore," he told the children surrounding him and turned, making his way up the stairs again and into his room. He just couldn't stand the orphans he had to put up with every single day. Oh, how he wished the term in Hogwarts would start already and he would finally be able to get away from this filth.

o

Harry laid on his bed, leaning on his pillow, turning the pages lazily. He had spent rest of his evening reading his books he had bought from Flourish and Blotts – and so far he had found them fascinating. He had never had any idea how the magical world was so endlessly complex and filled with small little details. Never in his life would he have expected that the world of magic would be so complicated or that the magic itself would be divided into three sects, one for Light magic, one for Dark magic and one for magic that was neither, Neutral, they called it. Even from the few chapters he had managed to read already, Harry could tell that most people seemed to consider Dark magic something evil, something that was bad and had to be loathed. According to what he had read, many of the Dark wizards were hunted by wizards who called themselves Light, only because of their magical affinity and due to the fact that the Light sect appeared to fear the power of the Dark. Harry had actually snorted at that. He couldn't see why Dark magic was deemed so bad, to him it seemed as natural as any other magic, it was just different from the others and could theoretically cause more damage as the magic itself appeared to be a tad bit more wild.

"I wonder why the magic needed to be divided into three in the first place," he muttered as he reached his hand to pet Ealga. "It's just magic, after all, and this whole speech of 'Dark is the bad cop and Light is the good cop' seems to be just a prejudiced ideal'. After all, there is always a shadow in light and I would be terribly surprised if they could wipe out the Dark magic by simply hunting and banning it."

Harry snorted again as he resumed his reading. He couldn't deny that he felt quite intrigued by the Dark magic, or at least his book described being commonly considered Dark – most of it just was something he had already done or what he would be able to do. He was also shocked that from wha he had been able to find from his book so far, if only in the smallest of references, his ability to converse with serpents was commonly considered as a Dark talent – something he, quite honestly, couldn't really understand. It just didn't make any sense to him why a gift like that would be Dark, whereas some other talents were not.

Finally Harry put the book aside and rested his head against his arm. There were so many things with magic, which he still couldn't quite comprehend, even after reading his books. The books explained only so much – rest he would have to experiment, experience for himself before he would be able to really grasp their meaning. He sighed and stretched gently before leaning in to grab one of his schoolbooks from his trunks. He knew the term wouldn't be starting in a week but he still wanted to be prepared to anything his new school would throw in his way. He hated, no, loathed being surprised and the solution to it was quite a simple one; he just needed to study ahead, familiarize himself with the theory behind the magic and hopefully the rest would follow and the practical work would come to him with an ease.

o

Finally, came the morning of September the first and it was time for Harry to travel to London once again – and this time he would be going to King's Cross station and find the platform he needed before boarding the Hogwarts' Express. He had visited the train station once, when the children in the orphanage had visited Scotland many years back, so it was the easiest part, finding the station. Harry knew, however, that there most certainly wasn't anything called platform nine and three quarters, it just didn't exist as he had never in his life seen any signs with that odd number. He didn't have any clues either on how to locate the platform, how to find it, reach it, so he just hoped he would see other Wizarding families along the way and he could ask for help – or rather, he could watch them without them noticing and once the coast was clear go to the platform alone. He really wasn't really fond of the idea that he would need to ask for help, he wasn't used to asking help as for most situations, he could manage quite fine on his own or he could actually use his magic to solve any problems he had.

Harry sighed as he gave a room around him a glance, checked one last time that he had everything gathered, as he didn't wish to travel all the way to London only to realize he had forgotten something to the orphanage. When he was satisfied nothing was left behind, he stepped out of his room and smirked slightly as he met the matron's terrified face, the poor woman was still afraid of him as he had made sure every single one in the orphanage knew not to mess with him.

"I reckon you'll be seeing me off, then?" he murmured and his smirk broadened as he saw her give him a jerky nod.

"I'll be escorting ye just to the station. From there ye'll need to find yer own way to the train as I don't trust anyone else to be able to take care of the young'uns for more than a short while."

Harry snorted at that. If it would have been up to him, he would have prevented her from returning to the orphanage for a longer while – but he supposed it would only mean that he would have to suffer from her presence longer. So, he just nodded politely and made his way downstairs and out from the door. The matron had already brought her car in front of the orphanage, so Harry just walked to it and sat inside. He really just wanted to get to the station and to the train and off to Hogwarts. He would have been willing to bet it would be a lot better there as he would finally be amongst his own kind and not surrounded by these mongrels. Though he had read enough already to know that most of people he was likely to meet wouldn't be so thrilled by the fact that Harry tended to sympathize with those whose magical affinity leaned more towards the Dark – as he just couldn't comprehend what made Dark so bad and supposedly evil. To him it was just magic, it just was a tad bit different from what most people apparently held acceptable.

o

Finally, Harry stood at the station, staring blankly at the brick wall between platforms nine and ten. He had to admit that he had no idea how he would get passed that wall that currently blocked his way and to the platform itself. He knew _where_ the platform was, he just didn't know _how_ to reach it. He didn't know enough of the Wizarding world to know a way to get through a solid brick wall, and he most certainly didn't have that good control over his innate magic – so the problem stood.

He didn't need to wonder for a very long time, though, as he could soon hear footsteps from behind him and as he turned around, not willing to let them catch him unawares, he saw that he was approached by a bunch of redheads. Harry couldn't prevent himself from smirking as he glanced at their trunks and a lonely bird cage and their worn out clothing that looked so awkward on them he knew they couldn't be anything else than wizards. As he watched them approach, he could feel Ealga stirring inside his clothes and he gave her a little caress through his sleeve, after all, he didn't want to risk these people finding out he had a snake as a familiar – and even less he wanted them finding out he could actually converse with serpents. Harry maybe didn't know much about Wizarding world but he had read enough to know that such skill was commonly considered being Dark and he had no interest in making his special ability commonly known.

"Oh, are you trying to get to the platform, dearest?" the plump woman asked as soon as she noticed Harry who was now staring at the large family instead of the brick wall. Harry had to fight the scowl that wanted to twist his lips.

How could the woman assume it was safe to ask him that? They were, after all, in the middle of those who didn't have any magic in them and Harry thought it was terribly reckless thing to ask.

"Yes, ma'am," he murmured, not willing to let his annoyance with her question show. Instead, he looked at the others, took in their looks and noticed that one of the boys seemed familiar.

Harry sighed in exasperation when he realized why exactly one of the boys was so familiar to him. It was the very same annoying boy from Madam Malkin's – and it didn't make him happy to meet him again. Unfortunately, the recognition seemed to be mutual.

"We've met, haven't we?" the boy asked and Harry really had to fight in order to stifle his groan. "I knew you looked familiar when I asked mum to talk to you! You are the guy from Madam Malkin's, aren't you?"

"Yes, I suppose we happened to be in Madam Malkin's at the same time," Harry said stiffly. He did not want to talk to the redhead. The redhead, though, didn't seem to notice this.

"Never introduced meself," the boy rambled, "Ron Weasley." He actually tried to offer his hand to Harry to shake but he just looked at it and frowned. No way he was going to take it, he didn't even like the boy. He hated even the way how the boy didn't speak in full sentences, leaving necessary words out and spoke in a muffled way that immediately made Harry cringe. And – he most certainly did not want to introduce himself.

"Pleasure," he spoke, not meaning his words a bit and nodded shortly to this Ron guy before gesturing sharply towards the brick wall. He did want to get through it, after all.

Ron's mum seemed to catch his idea immediately as she smiled almost blindingly bright and nodded gently, "Just run into the wall and you'll pass right through. That's the way to keep muggles out. Not many use this way in to the platform, though, as there is also another way, a Wizarding entrance. Most people just find it more comfortable, being able to floo in, no muggles around, you know."

Harry grimaced but said nothing as he turned to face the wall suspiciously. He had no idea how it could let him through as it was made of bricks but he reckoned he had no other choice than to trust these people. So, he walked straight into the wall and to his surprise he slipped through it smoothly and soon enough found himself standing on a smoky platform. He could see a scarlet train waiting on the rails and several children boarding the train with their trunks and owl cages.

He didn't wait for the Weasleys to arrive when he made his way down the platform and climbed to the train, wanting to find an even relatively empty compartment so that he wouldn't need to keep company to others or need to ignore them while he tried to enjoy his peace.

Harry walked past many of the compartments, deeming them too full for his liking before settling for one near the rear of the train. He slid the door open, put his trunk to the shelf over the bench and change into his school uniform and robes. He had no desire whatsoever to spend any more time in his filthy muggle clothing when he had something else to wear. He slid his wand carefully into his robe pocket and pulled one of his books out, settling to read and hoped he could finish one of the more problematic and complex chapters in his Transfiguration book.

A gentle smile tugged at the corner of his mouth when he felt Ealga slithering in his sleeve – and soon enough he could see her head peeking out from the opening of the sleeve and he gave her a gentle caress. Her tongue flickered and she turned to look towards the door before flickering her tongue once more.

' _There's somebody out there, approaching our nest,'_ she hissed and Harry chuckled lightly at the way how she had called their chosen compartment their nest.

' _What do you mean, sweetest?'_ he asked. _'Who's approaching?'_

' _A girl who smells of books and a small boy who smells of prey.'_

Harry couldn't help the snort that escaped as he turned to face door, just in time to see the door slide open, revealing a small girl with brown, bushy hair with bucky front teeth and a boy who to Harry's opinion somehow resembled a mouse. A fat and quite a lousy mouse but a mouse nonetheless. Maybe it was due the frightened expression on the boy's face or the fact that only a moment ago Ealga had said he smelled like prey. Harry gave the two a bored look and quirked his eyebrow in question.

For a while it seemed like the girl tried to gather the courage to speak to him first but finally she managed to ask, "Have you seen a toad?"

Harry chuckled. So, _that_ was shy Ealga had spoken about prey.

"Neville has lost his."

Harry gave the girl a long and quite a pointed look, trying to figure out what exactly was going on here. He could right away see he didn't like her. She seemed to be quite pushy and seemed to think she was better than everyone else around her. She even stood with a posture that shouted of shy arrogance and an attitude that could quite swiftly get her into trouble – it was clear that trouble would find her sooner or later. The girl seriously needed to learn how to be humble.

Harry snorted and looked up from the book he had tried to read despite the commotion. It was useless, though. He just couldn't concentrate.

"No, I haven't," he snapped. "And now, if you would mind, I'd like to have some peace."

The girl didn't seem to either hear or care about his request. She had clearly noticed the book Harry had been trying to read and couldn't just contain her curiosity. Harry had to stifle a moan that wanted to escape his lips when he noticed how the girl seemed to straighten up as her eyes laid on the book. She just seemed to be bustling with curiosity.

"What are you reading?" she asked, ignoring the way how Harry stiffened and glared at her. Or, maybe she noticed but didn't care. The boy clearly noticed how Harry's demeanour changed, it was clear from the way how the boy scattered farther away from Harry and seemed to avoid looking at him.

Harry just wanted the girl _gone_.

He certainly didn't have time for nosey strangers who didn't understand when to keep their mouths shut and not to disturb others. Harry didn't even have the words to describe how he felt when he encountered people like her, and to say he was annoyed would seem not to be descriptive enough. He didn't know what else he would loath more than people who couldn't find it in themselves to respect other's privacy – and to him it looked like this girl was one of those people. He knew that the odds of the girl just giving up if she didn't get a response were from slim to none but decided it wouldn't hurt to at least try.

However, it seemed that the girl was not going to let the matter pass, as she grew irritated with Harry's lack of answer.

"Well?" she inquired with an annoying tone that made Harry wish he could just spell the girl silent and be over with it. However, he knew that spelling others would bring him no good no matter how tempting the idea was – and he didn't know any spells that would have the desired effect in silencing the girl the most efficient way.

Harry gave the girl an unimpressed look before returning to his book. He really had no interest at all in conversing with these two. He just wanted to be on his own but apparently, that mere idea was something completely unheard of to the two – and Harry really had to fight to control his erratic magic that wanted to lash out and maim the annoying children.

"It is a Transfiguration book," Harry growled, barely containing his tone that wanted to descend into a chilling taunt. "So, now that you know what I am reading, could you just sod off."

The girl didn't look impressed. She even opened her mouth as if to say something, most likely to tell Harry he wasn't being very polite, but Harry lifted his hand, stopping her in her tracks and gave her a pointed look.

"Look, no, I'm not interested to hear what you have to say. I just want you to go and leave me alone. I have no time for company and it would do you no good to stay here – where you are not wanted."

The girl just huffed, making no move to leave. Harry sighed, shaking his head and resister the temptation to Ealga a hissy order to attack the girl and forcefully remove her from his presence. He, however, had no chance to do so as the door to the compartment opened once more and the very same redhead, Ron Weasley, entered the compartment. Harry almost moaned in his annoyance. Why must all of the insufferable prats come to _his_ compartment? Surely there were other compartments they could hang out in and leave him alone. Was it just too much to ask for them to leave him be?

He said nothing and levelled a deadly glared at Ron who blanched slightly but seemed otherwise unaffected.

"Here you are!" Ron exclaimed, looking straight at Harry. "I've been looking ev'rywhere but reckon that I shoulda figured you'd take the last compartment."

Ron sat, next to Harry, not even bothering to ask if Harry minded to have company. Ron just seemed to expect that Harry _wanted_ to be with him, something Harry just couldn't understand. He had only just met the redhead but already he could hardly stand the boy. Ron seemed to be far too arrogant and had too big mouth for his own good. Furthermore, Harry definitely did not like the way that the other boy seemed to spew off his opinions of the world and expected that others thought the same way. Harry was certain that this boy would find himself falling from his high pedestal and hitting the ground rather hard if he did not change his behaviour. In the orphanage, other children had never stood it if somebody was acting that way and the children could be quite cruel and always seemed to have a way to put an end to a behaviour that pissed them off. Oddly enough, most of the times at orphanage Harry had been the receiving end of the other kids' displeasure and had had to learn rather quickly to put up necessary masks.

To his amusement, Harry could see that the girl wasn't looking appreciative either. She gave Ron a glare, which the redhead ignored happily and instead stared at Harry, unblinking and unashamed. When the redhead didn't react to her glare the girl turned her attention back to Harry.

"That wasn't really _nice_ , you know," she declared, ignoring the annoyed look Harry sent to her direction. "You really shouldn't be so impolite, telling others to _sod off_ just because you decided to be stubborn."

Harry couldn't help but stare. _Stubborn_! Stubborn? Who? Him? Why was he stubborn when he said he didn't have time or mind for company and these two just decided to invite themselves to sit with him and refused to leave? He couldn't believe this girl! He had been in a mood even before he met her but now it just made everything a lot worse.

Gently, Harry put his book aside and levelled the girl with a deathly glare, which she ignored, even though Harry could see her shiver slightly. Apparently, she wasn't as brave as she wanted him to think. Harry smirked as he felt Ealga shift under his sleeve when the snake tried to find a better position if she needed to show herself or attack.

Harry had just barely managed to open his mouth to speak when Ron decided to interrupt, rather rudely, and snorted loudly.

"Why did you have to get the last compartment, mate?" he whined and Harry had to fight a shudder. He hated how the boy dared to call him _mate_ , like he would ever befriend with this insufferable redhead. He didn't like the boy, not at all.

"I searched everywhere!"

It seemed that the redhead didn't quite like that Harry got the girl's attention but not his. Harry gave him, too, a deathly glare and almost smirked when he saw how the other boy went pale. Harry smiled and tried his best to ignore both of the children in his compartment. The other boy who had trailed behind the girl had disappeared somewhere – not that Harry actually cared. He just wanted to be alone, and these two made it incredibly difficult.

"What is that?" Ron asked and Harry had an urge to slap his head with his palm. He smirked.

" _That_ is a book. Now, if you could sod off, I want to read."

"You can read with us here, right?"

 _No, I can't_ , Harry thought but said nothing as he just quirked his eyebrow before turning back to his book. He however, didn't have much time in peace before the girl interrupted him again.

"What happened to your glasses?" she asked, earning a glare from Harry.  
"Nothing that bothers you."

"If you want, I can fix them."

"No, thank you. I think I can manage without."

"But really – "

"I said no."

"You really shouldn't go with your glasses broken. It can damage your eyes."

 _No, it can't_.

Harry was about to open his mouth to tell the girl that he didn't need or _want_ help but she already had her wand out and was currently pointing Harry with it. For a moment Harry wanted to lash out with his magic, harm this foolish girl who thought she could spell everyone she wanted _just_ because she wanted – even when specifically told not to. He was too slow, too contradicted with his options and she was faster.

" _Oculus reparo!_ "

Harry could feel her magic brushing against his face, mending his broken glasses and he couldn't help but take them off, look at them before sighing and putting them back on. Then he turned his attention to the girl who sat in front of him with a wondering look on her face.

"You seem somehow familiar," she murmured and Harry _snarled_.

"I don't think so! And, I would appreciate if you didn't spell me without my permission. I don't like other people using magic on me, not without having been given permission – and I can assure you I don't react well to it."

He released a bit of his control over his magic and allowed it to fill the small compartment, to wash over the pair sitting in front of him – the fat boy had scurried off sometime during their _conversation_. He enjoyed their frightened expressions and wide eyes. He enjoyed how they looked shocked that he had this much control ever his magic – but Harry couldn't say he was surprised by it. These mongrels couldn't even imagine to match his levels. Soon, they would learn it, the hard way if they had to.

"Now, if you could, I would _love_ to spend rest of the journey in peace."

Having said that, Harry returned to his book and pointedly ignored the odd looks the girl and the redhead were giving him. He didn't have the patience needed to deal with them – not now and maybe not ever. He couldn't understand how hard it was to the two to realize he didn't want company and just wanted to read his book in peace. The two fell silent – but for Harry's misfortune, it didn't last long.

The redhead seemed to decide that the compartment was far too silent as he started rambling.

"So," he started, "what House d'you guess you'll end up in? I hope that I'll end up in Gryffindor – "

"Could you _please_ be quiet?" Harry moaned. "I've heard this already and I can assure you, I don't want to hear it again. Once was bad enough."

Ron glared at Harry, not impressed.

"I still don't understand how you can _not_ care about Houses! It's the most important thing!"

"No, it isn't!" Harry snapped. "The most important thing is learning, not the House you end up in."

"But – "

"I'm _not_ interested to hear it!"

"But the House defines _everything_! Everyone knows that Slytherins are the bad ones, they're _evil_! How can you not care 'bout that?"

Harry gave Ron a pointed glare and shook his head.

"I'm not going to have this conversation. I think I'll just go find another compartment and read in peace. Or I could stay here if you could just _be silent_!"

That shut Ron up and the rest of the journey was spent in silence. For Harry it was comforting – but he was sure for the other two it was most likely quite unpleasant experience. He could feel Ron's glare at him all of the time but chose to ignore it. He didn't care. He didn't _want_ to care.


End file.
